High number of real-estate dispute cases in Delhi, Mumbai; builders' reputation being hit: SC

New Delhi, Dec 5 (PTI) The Supreme Court voiced its concern on Friday over the rising number of cases of homebuyers in Delhi-NCR and re-development projects in Mumbai, saying it is affecting the reputation of real-estate developers.

A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and P B Varale, which was hearing a dispute regarding the re-development of a Mumbai housing society, said the magnitude of real-estate cases is severe in Delhi-NCR and Mumbai.

"This problem of real estate is very severe in these two places. In Delhi-NCR, there are lakhs and lakhs of homebuyers who are affected by housing projects. In Mumbai, it is the case with the re-development projects. Nowhere this happens. In Gujarat, you will not find a single case where there are disputes with regard to real-estate projects. This affects the reputation of real-estate developers," the bench said.

Justice Pardiwala asked the lawyers appearing in the matter on behalf of different builders to ponder over the issue.

The top court is currently seized of several real-estate disputes related to Unitech, Amrapali Group, Jaypee and Supertech Group, where thousands of homebuyers are contesting delayed possession of their flats by the developers. PTI MNL RC