Procedure, Property, and Protection

 

Policy & Regulation Intelligence
Edition 06

Procedure, Property, and Protection: Three Judgments That Define Modern Real Estate Litigation

By Arindam Bose
BeEstates | Decoding law, markets, and power in Indian real estate

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Indian real estate litigation today does not turn on one statute or one forum. It turns on three questions, asked in different courts, in different voices:

1. Was the case even framed correctly?

2. Can the State take property without law or compensation?

3. Can buyers be forced to wait forever?

Three judgments — one from a High Court and two from the Supreme Court — answer these questions. Together, they reveal the architecture of modern real estate law in India: procedure, substance, and remedy.

1. When Procedure Becomes Destiny: Jyotsana Rajendra Shah v. GujRERA (2025)

The Gujarat High Court’s decision in Jyotsana Rajendra Shah v. Gujarat Real Estate Regulatory Authority is not dramatic. That is precisely why it matters.

The case was decided under Order VII Rule 11(d) of the CPC — rejection of a plaint barred by law or lacking a cause of action. The Court did not roam into policy or precedent. It asked a narrower, more dangerous question:

Does this petition survive procedurally at all?

And the answer was no.

The judgment is a quiet warning to RERA litigants: regulatory grievances still live inside civil procedure. If pleadings are vague, misframed, or legally barred, courts will not rescue them with sympathy for buyers or suspicion of regulators.

RERA does not dilute the CPC.
Bad drafting can still kill a good grievance.

2. When Planning Power Meets the Constitution: Hari Krishna Mandir Trust (2020)

If Jyotsana Shah is about the gate, Hari Krishna Mandir Trust v. State of Maharashtra is about the fortress.

Here, the Supreme Court confronted a familiar planning authority reflex:
If land appears in a sanctioned scheme, it must belong to the State.

The Court dismantled that assumption.

Despite a Town Planning Scheme showing a strip of land as a public road, the facts were blunt:

• An arbitrator’s award (1972) confirmed private ownership

• No acquisition ever took place

• No compensation was paid

• The planning authority itself admitted this repeatedly

Yet the State claimed automatic vesting under Section 88 of the MRTP Act.

The Supreme Court refused to let statutory convenience override Article 300-A.

Its message was constitutional and uncompromising:

There is no vesting without acquisition.
There is no acquisition without compensation.
And clerical errors cannot dispossess citizens.

Urban planning, the Court made clear, is not eminent domain by stealth.

3. When Delay Breaks the Contract: Ireo Grace Realtech v. Abhishek Khanna (2021)

If the first case is about entry and the second about ownership, Ireo Grace Realtech is about exit.

The developer’s argument was familiar:
The project is registered under RERA. Buyers must wait. Consumer forums have no role.

The Supreme Court rejected this completely.

It held that:

• RERA is not an exclusive remedy
• Consumer Protection Act remedies are concurrent
• Buyers cannot be compelled to wait indefinitely
• Unreasonable delay frustrates the contract itself

Refund with interest was not generosity. It was justice.

The Court made something explicit that reshaped developer risk calculations:

RERA registration is not a shield against consumer accountability.

The Larger Pattern

These three cases operate at different levels, but together they define the ecosystem:

• Procedure (Jyotsana Shah)
  → Courts will not hear what is not properly pleaded.

• Substance (Hari Krishna Mandir Trust)
  → Property cannot be taken by paperwork alone.

• Remedy (Ireo Grace)
  → Buyers are not hostages to delay.

This is modern real estate jurisprudence in India:
disciplined in form, constitutional in substance, and buyer-centric in outcome.

RERA did not replace civil law.
Planning statutes did not override the Constitution.
And developers did not escape consumer accountability.

That balance — not brute regulation — is what gives the system legitimacy.

— Arindam Bose
BeEstates

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Disclaimer

This article is based on publicly available court judgments, statutory provisions, and independent legal research. It is intended for educational and informational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Readers are advised to consult qualified legal professionals for case-specific guidance.