New Delhi: After a wait of almost two decades, a man will finally be able to get his dream home from Delhi Development Authority, thanks to intervention by a Delhi consumer forum. The court pulled up DDA for its non-serious and casual approach and directed it to allot a flat to Harvansh Malik in the same area where he was allotted a flat in 2001 but denied possession on account of a slip-up by the agency.

Malik, incidentally a DDA employee himself, was first allotted a flat in 1993 but a confusion over mode of payment led to its cancellation. The complainant alleged the allotment letter issued to him on September 25,1993, did not mention that the payment had to be made on cash down basis. The demand letter issued to him in October 1993, however, stated it had to be made in one go. Malik requested for the payment mode to be changed but his request was kept pending for a long time and ultimately cancelled.

In March 2001, Malik was allotted a flat in west Delhis Peera Garhi. However, the allotment letter was sent to a wrong address and returned undelivered. Fed up with a long wait, Malik enquired about the status of the flat and was told it was cancelled. The district consumer forum found serious fault with the manner in which the flats allotted to Malik in 1993 and 2001 were cancelled.

DDA has committed serious deficiency and shown negligence in not considering the request of the allottee for change of mode of payment from cash down to hire purchase, the district consumer forum said. The bench comprising president Narendra Kumar of Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum VII slammed DDA for its arbitrariness in not even considering Maliks request for conversion of mode of payment.

It appears no efforts were made to find out the correct address of the complainant who was an employee of DDA, the court noted. It directed the DDA to allot a new flat to Malik within 30 days in the same location but dismissed Maliks plea of seeking the flat at the same rate that was prevalent in the year 2001.

Source:http://epaper.timesofindia.com/