GURGAON: Punjab and Haryana high court has ordered the state government to form a committee to look into the suggestions from the general public and incorporate them in the Haryana Regulation of Property Dealers and Consultants Bill 2008.

The property dealers’ associations of Gurgaon, Faridabad, Rewari and other cities had moved court on the constitutional validity of the bill that impacts both buyers and sellers of the real estate market. The court noted the hurry in bringing the legislation and also stated that the ‘rules’ of the bill seem to have been drafted in an even greater hurry.

Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice Augustine George Masih heard a bunch of petitions and ordered the Haryana government to form a committee and get feedback from the general public. “A committee must be constituted within a period of two weeks and it will invite suggestions from the public and the traders, giving a window of 30 days. The committee will examine the suggestions and submit its recommendations to the Haryana government for consideration,” they said.

After hearing arguments of the petitioners and state government, the court said: “It does appear to us that some aspects may have escaped attention in the bill. It has been pointed out to us that the bill will promote standards of conduct and competence of persons engaged in property dealing and to protect the interests of those persons using the services of property dealers, but even the basic qualification required to carry out the business has not been specified.” On the issue of service charges, the court endorsed that it should be left to the two contracting parties to decide what should be the charges for the service rendered keeping in mind the quality and nature of the service to be so rendered.

The petitioners had argued that the level of service may vary from person to person and there are organizations, which are giving comprehensive services not necessarily restricted to locating the prospective seller/purchaser and these services cannot be rendered within the cap fixed. The court ordered that the state will set up a compact committee consisting of experts preferably with some independent experts as members to go into the issues as to whether any amendments are required to be proposed to the Act and more specifically, the rules.

“The committee will complete the exercise within a period of three months of its constitution. Thereafter, the matter will rest with the government of Haryana. “We are sure that if a pragmatic approach is adopted keeping the overall objective in mind, a number of aspects sought to be raised in these petitions would stand addressed and learned counsel for the petitioners have assured us that their objective is not to litigate for the sake of it,” said the court in the order.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/gurgaon/HC-orders-panel-on-realtors-bill/articleshow/23223467.cms

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