representative image Noida: a group of 44 home buyers From Gaursons Sportswood – a residential project in Sector 79 – has filed a writ petition Allahabad High CourtThey are demanding registration of their flats which were handed over to them five years ago.
Unlike other housing projects – where registries are mostly hit due to dues – the delay in Sportswood is due to violation of agreements.
Part of Sportswood Towers, launched in 2010 Noida Authority’s ambitious Sports City project – under which 70% of the land was to be set aside for sports infrastructure and the remainder was to be designated for residential and commercial development.
The land was allotted by the authority to four consortiums, with Xanadu Estate Pvt Ltd leading the development in Sectors 78, 79 and 101. Xanadu later divided the land into 16 parts, and distributed them among various real estate developers within the consortium, including Gaursons.
The project hit a halt when a 2019 audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) identified several irregularities, including incomplete sports facilities that were supposed to come up on 70% of the allotted land.
The findings prompted the authority to suspend the approval of revised maps, stall occupancy certificates and registry applications for all Sports City projects in January 2021.
The buyers of Sportswood, in their petition, have said that registration of their flat should be allowed as they have paid the full price including stamp duty.
Samwarjeet Dassaudi, one of the petitioners, pointed out that Sportswood had also received a provisional completion certificate in March 2019 after completing the construction requirements, prompting the developer to hand over the flat. Gaudsons was also given a no dues certificate as it had made the payment with the authority.
“But the developer failed to secure the permanent completion certificate due to unresolved policy issues related to the broader Sports City project. As per UP-RERA guidelines, the completion certificate is considered approved if not processed by the authorities after seven days. Then Also, our registry process is stalled,” he told TOI.
Another petitioner said, “Home buyers have fulfilled all the financial obligations including farmer compensation, utility charges and stamp duty. But the Noida authority and the developer have failed to facilitate sublease registration.”
The writ petition, filed this month under Article 226 of the Constitution, argued that the delay in registration violated the fundamental rights of the buyers. It urged the court to strike down the condition linking sublease registrations with permanent completion certificates so that the registries can proceed on the basis of existing approvals.
Homebuyers said they were severely affected by the delay in registration, which prevented them from selling or transferring their properties without formal ownership documents. This limitation has also created financial difficulties and limited the ability of buyers to leverage their investments, he said.
Their concerns are further heightened by the fact that circle rates in the city are expected to increase by 30% – which will significantly increase registration costs when the process eventually restarts.
On Friday, a bench of Justices Manoj Kumar Gupta and Anish Kumar Gupta sought a response from the authority on the concerns of buyers and scheduled the next hearing for January 10, 2025.
The outcome of the case could set a precedent that will help not only the 44 petitioners but thousands of other homebuyers in Sports City projects facing similar challenges. Sportswood project alone has 800 homebuyers.
