Karnataka HC directs Mantri Developers to return money and discharge loan outstanding of litigants who cancelled flat bookings

Court restrains financial institution from acting against borrowers, allows it to recover outstanding from the builder

The High Court has come to the rescue of some who had cancelled their bookings for flats at ‘Mantri Web City’ residential apartments project of M/s Mantri Developers Pvt Ltd, Bengaluru.

The court said that it is not their obligation to repay the outstanding loan amount with a nationalised bank as per the tripartite agreements for cancelling/withdrawing their bookings for flats following inordinate delay in construction.

Also, the court restrained PNB Housing Finance Ltd. (PNBHFL) from taking any coercive measures against the petitioners for recovering any amount comprised in agreements, including the tripartite housing loan arrangement between the petitioners, the developer and the PNBHFL.

A direction has also been issued to the Reserve Bank of India and other authorities to process petitioners’ claim for re-framing the CIBIL scores and for issuing no due certificates in accordance with law.

Justice Krishna S. Dixit passed the order while partly allowing separate petitions filed by Mudit Saxena and several others.

Meanwhile, the court directed Mantri Developers to comply with the directions issued by the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) to return the own contribution amount to the petitioners and to discharge the loan raised in their names with all its EMI and interest.

The court also made that this order will not come in the way of PNBHFL from taking up any proceedings for recovering the outstanding loans from Mantri Developers.