Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has upheld the dismissal of a complaint filed by flat allottees against a developer for sharing common amenities between two adjacent housing projects, holding that the allottees were bound by, and estopped from resiling from, the terms of their own registered sale deed under which they had consented to such sharing.A Division Bench of Justice Jayant Banerji and Justice Tara Vitasta Ganju was hearing an appeal filed by Mr. Shailesh B. Charati and Mrs. Mamta S. Charati, owners of a flat in the ‘Arya Hamsa’ project, against an order of the Karnataka Real Estate Appellate Tribunal (K-REAT) which had dismissed their appeal and confirmed the order of the Karnataka Real Estate Regulatory Authority rejecting their complaint against the developer, M/s Arya Gruha Private Limited, and the project’s landowners.

A registered sale deed can determine whether apartment owners have exclusive rights over common amenities, the Karnataka High Court has held, in a ruling that carries an important lesson for homebuyers in large, phased housing projects.

what was the Case Dispute?

Arya Hamsa was developed first, while Arya Hamsa Grande was constructed later on adjoining land by the same developer. Although the projects had separate development agreements and sanction plans, certain facilities were to be shared. Some Arya Hamsa residents challenged this arrangement before the Karnataka Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA), arguing that the common facilities had originally been intended for their project and that allowing residents of another project to use them affected their rights. Their complaint was rejected by Karnataka RERA and subsequently by the RERA Appellate Tribunal. The flat owners then approached the High Court.