Non-bailable warrant issued against Trust Chairman

Avneet Kaur
Jalandhar, April 25

The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum has issued a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against the Chairman of the Jalandhar Improvement Trust (JIT) over the non-compliance of its orders related to a complaint filed by an allottee of the Bibi Bhani Complex.

President of the forum Karnail Singh and member Harvimal Dogra in the previous hearing on the execution appeal have ordered the issuing of warrant of arrest of the Chairman for June 3.

The orders were issued after the forum found that its orders regarding the refund of an amount of Rs 6.94 lakh with 12 per cent interest from January 28, 2017, till realisation to an allottee of the scheme had not been complied with. Also, no one had appeared on behalf of the JIT for the hearing of the execution appeal on the last date on April 16.

The case pertains to a complaint filed by Jatinder Kaur of Bhai Ditt Singh Nagar, near Railway Road, in July 2017 over the failure in the delivery of possession of LIG flat No. 28A, in the 51.5 acre scheme at Guru Amar Das Nagar. The plaintiff said she had got the allotment in a lucky draw in August 2009 and had paid the entire purchase price of Rs 6.94 lakh.

She said she was told that the JIT would give the possession of the flat on the payment of the last installment within 2.5 years from the date of the allotment, which should have been by July 2012. But, the JIT did not deliver the possession of the flat despite several requests, she said.

The JIT had then replied saying that the structure of the flats was complete and the finishing work remained to be done, which had been held up as the contractor ran away and the matter was pending before the court.

The forum with President Karnail Singh in the judgment on January 8, 2019, said: “The JIT was liable to get the construction completed within the stipulated period even if the contractor left the work. It should have hired another contractor. Also, the allottees could not be made to suffer because of the fault on part of the contractor. The JIT is directed to refund the amount of Rs 6, 94,127 to the complainant with interest of 12 per cent per annum from the date of receipt till the payment is made to the latter.”

Second arrest warrant in a month

The JIT last month approached the state commission against these orders of the forum, but the latter directed the JIT to first deposit the principal amount of Rs 6, 94,127 of the flat by April 27. However, the JIT even failed to comply with the state commission order and has not provided any receipt for the same to the district forum. This is the second arrest warrant issued against the JIT Chairman this month related to complaints filed by allottees of the Bibi Bhani Complex. On April 3, an arrest warrant related to Sushil Kumar’s complaint was issued in which the forum has asked the JIT to return the amount of Rs 6.30 lakh with 9 per cent interest by May 6.