The Supreme Court has warned the real estate industry that promises made in project brochures cannot be dismissed as mere marketing material, holding that a developer must construct and deliver a project in strict conformity with the representations made to prospective homebuyers.
Court Issues Warning Over DLF Home Developers’ Project Deviations
The court has expressed serious concerns regarding significant deviations at DLF Home Developers’ The Primus residential project in Gurugram. A key feature, a 24-metre-wide road outlined in the project plan, has largely vanished, with parts repurposed as green space or parking areas.
Justices Ahsanuddin Amanullah and R Mahadevan described these deviations as ‘not minor, but substantial.’ They warned that if the project does not align with the original brochure by the next hearing, the court will take appropriate action.
The Haryana government and its officials have also come under fire for their inadequate management of the land needed for the road and their failure to facilitate elections for the residents’ welfare association.
In response, the court has instructed the CBI director to assign two additional inspectors to assist Superintendent of Police Saurabh Gupta, who is currently conducting a preliminary inquiry. The matter has been adjourned to October 12 to allow time for the CBI to submit its final report. The court emphasized that the inquiry must be conducted objectively and independently, free from any influence from the court’s observations.
Another substantial portion, which appears to retain the structure of a road, is being used for parking by residents and visitors. The top court made it clear that its concern went beyond the road itself. As a result, roughly 100 metres – almost two-thirds of the entire stretch – was either a green patch of being used for parking, the court noted.
The latest order, released earlier this week, followed a status report submitted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which had been directed by the Supreme Court to conduct a preliminary fact-finding exercise into the 24-metre-wide road and other complaints relating to compliance and alleged irregularities. Of the 147-metre stretch earmarked for the road, around 52 metres has been developed as a green patch.
It reiterated that from the beginning of the proceedings it had been emphasising that the project sold to consumers had to be delivered and constructed “strictly in accordance with the representations made in the brochure/plan provided by DLF to the prospective buyers/consumers”.
