The Bombay High Court passed the order on a PIL by an architect who claimed that full integration with the Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority portal was required to prevent the registration of illegal buildings.
The Bombay High Court directed urban planning authorities in Maharashtra to link their websites with the Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority (MahaRERA) portal within three months to protect the interests of homebuyers.
The court said such an integration was imperative for establishing a streamlined process to verify the authenticity of commencement and occupation certificates (CC and OC) submitted for registration of real estate projects under the RERA Act.
A division bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Amit Borkar passed the judgement on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) by architect Sandeep Pandurang Patil from Dombivli, who sought directions to establish accountability among the government, MahaRERA and local planning authorities.
The high court asked the state government to rigorously comply with the Urban Development Department (UDD)’s government resolution (GR) of February 23, 2023, which mandated standardising procedures for issuance and publication of CCS and OCs and ensuring transparent access to information for homebuyers.
The court also said that until full integration is achieved, all civic bodies must ensure that CCs and OCS are uploaded on their websites within 48 hours of issuance so that interim transparency is maintained and public access is provided.
The petitioner claimed that full integration was required to prevent the registration of illegal buildings, verify the authenticity of documents submitted for project registration, and protect homebuyers from fraudulent real estate practices.
Advocate P I Bhujbal for Patil also raised concerns over widespread unauthorised construction in 27 villages in Kalyan and Ambernath talukas and claimed that the same was due to forged documents submitted by the developers to civic authorities
The court noted that “any aggrieved party retains the right to approach MahaRERA through appropriate legal proceedings as permitted under the RERA Act, 2016, to seek cancellation of a project’s registration” and the Authority can revoke or suspend registrations in case of prima facie evidence of fraud, misrepresentation or use of forged documents for obtaining CCs.
It also directed MahaRERA to verify the authenticity of all certificates submitted by promoters since June 19, 2023. Registration should be granted after due verification so that only projects with genuine documents are registered, the court said.
The bench asked the state government to complete the integration of the Building Plan Management System (BPMS) with MahaRERA’s online system within three months so that the real estate authority can cross-verify certificates and mitigate the risk of fraudulent submissions.
Disposing of the PIL, the court further directed MahaRERA to demolish within three months the illegal structures in the area constructed by submitting forged documents and asked the police stations to assist civic officials in removing occupants.
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