[Resolved]  Nirmal LifeStyle — FOREST ISSUE

This letter represents the grievance of a group of people who booked apartments in residential projects called Blue Diamond and Runwal Infinity which are projects of leading Mumbai developers Nirmal Lifestyles and Runwal Group in Mulund, Mumbai, Maharashtra.

The projects were flagged off in the year 2003 (Blue Diamond) and 2006 (Runwal Infinity) and the delivery of this project was scheduled for end of 2006 (Blue Diamond) and 2008 (Runwal Infinity). It is now 2011 and we are nowhere near in getting possession of our cherished homes. Various permits and clearances as required for the construction of the apartment were approved and registered by the Mumbai Municipal Corporation and subsequently housing loans were approved and disbursed by the banks (public as well as private). The construction was progressing and the builders demand for payments based on slab was met by us regularly. Some o[censored]s have taken housing loans to make these payments. A few unfortunate amongst us started living in rented homes having sold their existing homes to make these payments. Some o[censored]s made full down payment to the builder. But the dream of living in our cherished apartment in the upcoming suburb of Mumbai kept us going. Then all of a sudden, sometime in 2005 an NGO called Bombay Environmental Action Group filed a Public Interest Litigation in the Mumbai High courts claiming that these tracts of land on which these housing projects was constructed was forest land prior to 1955. Mumbai High Court stayed any further construction on these lands in June 2005 which subsequently halted the construction.

Now close to 5 years later and after countless court hearings and postponements time and again, justice has not been served to the hundreds of innocent common hardworking people like us. While the law is taking its own time, hundreds o[censored]s are paying rent to have a roof over our head and making hefty bank payments towards the loans we took to purchase the flat.

In 2008, the case was transferred from Mumbai high court to the Supreme Court (SC) of India. SC had appointed a Central Empowerment Committee (CEC) to study the ground situation and make a recommendation. After visiting all the affected sites and speaking to various people, CEC submitted its report to SC in 2009 the report was accepted by the SC in Jan-2010. Builders have informed us that they have already paid the NPV as directed by the CEC and still waiting for the clearance.

All these years, we have waited patiently hoping that ultimately justice will prevail. Even after fulfilling the recommendation made by SC in Jan-2010, the case has not been resolved yet. After hearing the case for over three years, the two member SC bench has suggested that the case should now be heard by a three member bench. So far, the Supreme Court has not been able to provide justice and we demand that a swift and fair verdict be granted in favour of lacs of innocent people affected by the forest issue.

Through this petition we also demand the following:
1) Grant clearance to builders to resume construction of housing complex that have already begun construction without any further delay.
2) As the builder resumes construction, they should ensure that the structure meets the same safety standards that is required for residential properties.
3) The builder should honor the original agreement signed between them and the buyer. The buyer should not be required to pay any additional money other than what is in the original agreement.
4) Going forth, local authorities like Municipal Corporation who grant permission to construct projects, should be held responsible for giving permits on land that is designated as forest area. Once a permit is granted to allow construction, government and other authorities should not be allowed to reclaim the land back.
5) Make builders responsible to disclose ownership of land to buyers when buyers invest in them

I too was planning to file a case against the Builder(Nirmal Lifestyle) and the bank(ICICI Bank, for not doing the due diligence before issuing loan). I had paid full amount against a flat in Blue diamond and its more than 9 years now nothing seems moving. My demand for an alternate flat of same size was not honoured by the builder, so I do not have any other option but to approach court of law for the refund of money along with interest and other component to me.

So lets unite and fight it out ASAP.

BAPU

I offered a apt in Zircon Nirmal Life Style > Please advice if i should consider in investing as the project has taken so long and has still not seem to be completing.


Manuel

Nirmal and like builders are creating life of the invester difficult, Not giving possession and taking money and charging penalty also on delayed payments. Is there no law to safeguard investor interests in this country

completely agree. I am also planning for a legal action. First we need to file a case in consumer court.

I am owner of Flat no: 2603 at Turquoise building & Office no: 308 in Discovery, both being developed by Nirmal Lifestyle Limited. I have already issued a Legal Notice to Nirmal Lifestyle and am in the path of seeking Legal recourse. Please contact me on [protected]@yahoo.com in the event you have booked in Turquoise or Discovery and want to form a group and take collective Legal action.

I have already done some reasonable ground work and my Lawyer is readily available to take up the collective matter at very reasonable cost.

I have booked flat in Blue Diamond and the issue is still not resolved. I had met Mr Staney Antoney (GM - Sales) couple of times in 2nd half of 2015 and he is offering some deal (i.e. revised rates) for either retaining the flat or selling it back to the builder. He was to get back to me with the details but have not gotten back after more than 3 months now. What I also heard is that Nirmal is trying to contact each investor individually and offer separate deal to everybody.

We should now unite and fight Nirmal's policy of divide and rule. Let us get everybody's contacts who have invested in Nirmal Lifestyle Buildings (at Nirmal Lifestyle Mall, which is now closing), so that we can meet the builder collectively and pressurise him to get the resolution.

From what Mr Staney had told me when I had met him last year is that tagging and de-tagging of the land is done. i.e. forest land issue is now resolved. I also hear that the work has started on Blue Diamond Building, since last couple of months, though I have not visited the site. The slabs are being put beyond 19th floor.

My email id is naren.[protected]@gmail.com and cell # is[protected]. Let us share our contact details so that we can create a group.

Naren...

I had also made full payment to Nirmal Lifestyle in 2005 and have been visiting their office and telephoning them regularly. The builder Jain is avoiding to meet me and his officers keep changing. The last one Staney Anthony and Dhanya Internet around June2016.
I do not know other investors. Time has come to take United action.
My email id [protected]@yahoo.com

I have booked a flat at the blue diamond project by nirmal lifestyle in mulund(west) mumbai. Booked a 3bhk flat in 2004 and till now i have not got possession of my flat. They have been dilly dallying with their response every time we approached them. I believe there was case which is now cleared by the highest court of the country and its been nearly two years now. they have no excuse to delay this project now as they have been cleared to complete the project and yet they are just delaying and sitting on it. I would also like to highlight here that our bank ICICI is also hand in glove with the builder. They were supposed to disburse the money to the builder based on each slab completion instead they have fully disbursed the entire amount the builder which is illegal and unlawful. We should build a strong case against the bank and the builder as they are hand in glove in this fiasco.

Godwin Joshua
[protected]
Email- [protected]@gmail.com