WBREAT Upholds Interim Ban On Forum Projects From Selling or Transferring Kolkata 'Atmosphere' Project

The West Bengal Real Estate Appellate Tribunal has upheld an interim order against real estate developer Forum Projects Private Limited. The order restrains the company from selling, transferring, or otherwise dealing with any part of its luxury residential project “Atmosphere” on Kolkata's EM Bypass.

A bench of Chairperson Justice Rabindranath Samanta and Administrative Member Dr. Subrat Mukherjee dismissed the developer's appeal. It held that “the interim directions passed by the learned Regulatory Authority are justified and it should not be interfered with at this stage.”

The case concerns “Atmosphere—The Luxurious Condominium,” a residential complex built by Forum Projects on a three-acre plot near Science City. Several flat owners approached the state real estate regulator alleging that the developer changed the sanctioned plans midway.

According to them, areas shown as common facilities, including a landscaped first-floor E-Deck, were converted into a separate apartment, and additional units were added, without taking the consent of two-thirds of the allottees as required under the law.

They also complained that promised funds running into crores of rupees were not handed over to the residents' association, forcing them to bear maintenance costs themselves.

Forum Projects challenged the regulator's interim restraint, arguing that the revised building plans were approved by the Kolkata Municipal Corporation and were based on an additional floor area ratio that became available in 2015.

The developer said it had applied for the revised plan in October 2016, before the relevant consent requirement came into force, and claimed that many buyers had already agreed to such changes in their individual agreements.

It also relied on a Calcutta High Court order passed in an arbitration-related dispute that had allowed construction to continue.

The tribunal rejected these arguments. It noted that while the application for revision was made earlier, the modified plan was sanctioned in November 2018, when the statutory requirement of prior consent was already in force.

“Without obtaining written consent of at least two-thirds of the allottees, the promoter is not allowed to make any kind of alterations or additions in the sanctioned plans of the project,” the bench said.

It made it clear that contractual clauses could not override the law, observing that “the maxim 'there will be no estoppel against statute' neatly applies to the matter on hand.”

The tribunal also clarified that proceedings under real estate law are independent of private arbitration disputes and that the regulator was well within its powers to step in and grant interim protection.