The Madras High Court has directed the Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) and the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority (CMDA) to obtain an undertaking from builders that possession of the building will be handed over to the buyers only after receiving the completion certificate from the authorities concerned. "Before issuing the building planning permission, an undertaking is obtained from the builder/applicant, as the case may be, to the effect that possession of the building will be entrusted and/or handed over to the owners/beneficiaries only after obtaining completion certificate from the authorities concerned," a division bench of Justices R Mahadevan and Mohammed Shaffiq said. The bench was disposing of a writ petition from M Rahamathunnisa and eight others, owners of the flats constructed by New Venus Developers Private Limited here challenging a de-occupation notice issued in December, 2021 by the Corporation. The bench said that upon conducting personal inspection by the officials concerned and being satisfied that the building is constructed in accordance with the building planning permission given and that there is no deviation in the construction in any manner, the completion certificate in respect of residential/commercial building shall be issued to the parties concerned, without causing undue delay. If any deviation is noticed, action must be taken in accordance with the Town and Country Planning Act and the process of issuance of completion certificate should be deferred, unless and until the deviations pointed out are completely rectified. Apparently moved by the plight of the petitioners, who had invested huge hard earned money for the purchase of the flats and that they were being victimised for no fault of theirs, the judges gave the directions to curtail recurrence of any such incidents in the future. The bench also said that the banks/financial institutions shall sanction loan to the building(s) only after production of the completion certificate by the parties concerned.
