A real estate promoter in West Tripura has been sentenced to three years in prison and fined Rs1 lakh by a consumer court for failing to deliver a flat to a buyer and not refunding the amount paid. The verdict was handed down by Consumer Court Judge Gautam Sarkar, who found promoter Nivedita Baidya guilty of breaching the buyer-seller agreement with Narayan Chandra Das, a resident of Joynagar in Agartala.
The court has directed the Director General of Police to arrest Baidya and bring her before the court to serve her sentence. The dispute between Baidya and Das dates back to an agreement signed on October 28, 2016, in which Baidya promised to allocate Das a flat on the third floor of a building under construction, valued at ₹18.7 lakh. Das made an initial payment of Rs 3.74 lakh in 2017 and an additional Rs 2 lakh later on. However, construction on the building came to a halt in 2018 and was never resumed.
Despite numerous attempts by Das to follow up with Baidya, the property was never handed over, and the money was not refunded. In 2019, Das filed a complaint with the consumer court, which ruled in his favor and ordered Baidya to refund the money along with compensation. When Baidya failed to comply, Das filed a second petition for enforcement.
The recent ruling by the court has set a precedent in the real estate sector, with Baidya being sentenced to jail and warned that failure to pay the fine will result in an additional three-month imprisonment. The judgment has been praised as a strong message against fraudulent practices in the real estate industry, emphasizing the importance of upholding agreements and protecting the rights of consumers.
