Chandigarh, 16 October, 2024: Selling a house that cannot be legally transferred to the buyer is illegal and considered an unfair trade practice, the District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in Chandigarh ruled.
The commission ordered two individuals to refund Rs 8 lakh to Rehana Begum, a resident of Maloya Colony, Chandigarh. Rehana filed a complaint stating that she paid Rs 2 lakh as a booking amount on February 25, 2023, to Rajinder Singh and Sikandar Pal for an EWS-category house in Maloya Colony.
She said the sellers falsely claimed that the house could be transferred to her, including this assurance in their agreement. However, the Chandigarh Housing Board informed Rehana that the house, allotted under the EWS Rehabilitation Scheme, could not be transferred or resold using a general power of attorney, making the transaction invalid.
Rehana said she paid Rs 8 lakh in total for the house.
Rajinder and Sikandar denied the allegations, claiming Sikandar owned the house and had already signed an agreement with Rehana.
They argued that they called her several times to finalize the sale, but she did not respond.
The commission concluded that since the house cannot be transferred under the EWS scheme, the transaction was void and ruled in favor of Rehana.
