By Staff Reporter
The Supreme Court has sent notices to the chief secretaries of Nagaland, Meghalaya, Sikkim, and the Union Territory of Ladakh, seeking explanations for their failure to establish the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) in their respective states. A bench comprising justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti issued these notices. The court also requested responses from the chief secretaries of Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Sikkim, West Bengal, and the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir. These states have only issued interim orders for RERA notification.
In its order dated August 11, the court emphasized that it was appropriate to issue notices to these states and union territories that have either not notified RERA Rules or have not established the Real Estate Regulatory Authority despite the notification. The respective chief secretaries have been instructed to file affidavits detailing the progress made towards the enforcement and implementation of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, within 60 days from the date of this order.
The court has scheduled a relisting of the matter for January of the following year. The Additional Solicitor General submitted a progress report titled “Real Estate (Regulation & Development) Act, 2016 [RERA] – Implementation Progress Report,” which outlines the status of RERA implementation across states and union territories.
According to the report, all states and union territories have notified RERA rules, with Nagaland in the process of notification. While 32 states/UTs have established the Real Estate Regulatory Authority, Ladakh, Meghalaya, and Sikkim have notified the rules but are yet to establish the authority. Meanwhile, 28 states/UTs have set up the Real Estate Appellate Tribunal. Some states including Arunachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Sikkim, and West Bengal are in the process of establishing the tribunal.
The report also indicates that 30 states/UTs have operationalized their RERA websites, with Arunachal Pradesh and Manipur in the process of operationalization. Furthermore, a total of 1,09,308 real estate projects and 77,704 real estate agents have registered under RERA nationwide, with 1,11,222 complaints disposed of by Real Estate Regulatory Authorities across the country.