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The biggest problem that flat buyers face in metros and modern residential societies is the lack of car parking. But imagine, what would happen if a single person buys all the parking spaces in your building or society and forces you to park your own car? One such surprising and controversial case has come to light, which has surprised even experts in the real estate sector and law. A super-rich woman investor bought a total of 196 parking spots in the underground garage of a large multi-storey housing society by paying a lump sum of about Rs 14.48 crore (as per local currency conversion). Initially, the builder and the developer considered it a normal commercial deal and transferred the ownership of all the slots to the woman, but after a few weeks, such a dispute arose in the society that the peace between the neighbors was completely destroyed and the matter directly reached the threshold of the court.
After becoming the legal owner of 196 parking slots, the woman started taking drastic measures to take the entire parking lot under her personal control. He erected strong iron poles (ballards) on all 196 spots and installed heavy chains and locks on them, so that no other resident could park his car there even by mistake. Families who had flats in the society but had not previously purchased parking spaces and were parking their vehicles in vacant spaces suddenly faced a serious crisis. Hundreds of vehicles were evicted from the society’s basement, forcing people to park their expensive vehicles outside on main roads, streets and in illegal places. This not only increased the risk of vandalism and theft in vehicles, but also led to traffic jams and challans being issued every day, due to which there was deep anger among the flat owners.
When angry flat owners and Residents Welfare Association (RWA) officials tried to talk to the woman, her attitude was extremely aggressive and mercurial. He clearly said that since he had purchased these slots legally by paying the full amount to the builder, it is his private property. The woman flatly refused to sell these parking spots to the natives at normal rates and in return set a condition of charging them monthly rent three to four times more than the market rate. The woman fixed such a huge fare per slot that it was impossible for ordinary middle class families to pay it. The residents alleged that the woman had systematically established a monopoly on the parking of the entire society so that she could charge the rent as per her wish by creating an artificial crisis and earn huge profits.
After this deadlock that lasted for months, the patience of the residents ran out. Many flat owners went to the parking area, uprooted the iron pillars and chains installed and started parking their cars forcibly. In response, the woman filed criminal complaints against dozens of residents with the local police, terming it as encroachment and vandalism on her private property. There were heated exchanges and ruckus between security guards, police officials and local residents every day in the society. The atmosphere became so tense that even the builder refused to intervene and said that after the registration was completed, he had nothing to do with the dispute. Finally, when all avenues of negotiation were closed, a group of angry residents came together and filed a joint civil suit in the court against both the woman and the builder.
In the petition filed in the court, the residents argued that parking space in any residential housing project is not just a common commercial property but is a part of the essential infrastructure (common civic amenity) of the entire project. Lawyers for the residents argued that parking slots under real estate rules are created primarily for the use of flat owners living in the same building and not as a weapon of undue profiteering and blackmailing by an outside investor. The petition also accused the builder of ignoring the basic rights of residents and selling parking in bulk for his quick financial gains. On the other hand, the woman’s lawyers said that since the sale was done under a valid contract and legal documents, the property owner has full legal right to protect his rights and fix the rent as per his wish.
This case is no longer just a personal dispute of one society, but has become a major legal precedent for real estate and urban planning experts around the world. In many countries including India, RERA and many clear decisions of the Supreme Court have provided that stilt or open parking space in residential buildings cannot be freely sold by the builder to any outsider and it is considered a part of the common area. However, where there is ambiguity in the law, capitalists take advantage of such loopholes to hold the daily lives of common people hostage. The court is yet to give a final verdict in this matter, but this controversy has made it clear how essential it is to closely check the parking ownership rights, common area deeds and RWA bye-laws while buying a house in any society.