I paid Rs. 7.25 Lakh through cheque for purchase of a plot having value Rs. 15 Lakh from a developer, Devraj Homes Pvt. Ltd. Ranchi. An agreement was signed by me and developer on [deleted] after initial payment of Rs. 3.75 Lakhs and subsequently in july-14, I paid Rs. 2.50 Lakh. As per agreement, the plot is under the possession of developer and I may make boundary in the plot. During boundary making, the developer disclosed that the part of land is not under his possession and will be taken during few months. Due to this, boundary remained incomplete from two sides when the boundary job was started in Sept-2014. The agreement do not mention the period of validity of agreement. Developer kept on promising that he will clear the land and I may do boundary and may get it registered upon paying rest of the amount. I waited till Aug-15 and then gave option to the developer to make registry for the part land which is under their possession or make me refund. They didn't agreed for the registry of part land. Subsequently, they gave me four undated cheque amounting Rs. 7.25 Lakh on [deleted] citing I should deposit it at the date as per their instruction. No instruction was given by developer, hence wrote the date [deleted] on all cheques and deposited it on [deleted]. All cheque bounced due to insufficient balance in the account of developer. Again deposited in Jan-16 which bounced for same reason. I gave a written complaint to police. Police didn't took FIR instead agreed to negotiate. I and developer was called on [deleted] where party agreed to pay all amount on [deleted]. Developer gave it in writing on plain paper of which xerox was provided to me by police. On [deleted], developer returned me Rs. 4 Lakh ( one lakh cash and 3 lakh by another cheque) with a promise to return rest amount within one month. I gave the police in writing that i received 4 lakhs and rest was promised to be paid by developer within one month. Developer also signed the receiving and original was kept by police and xerox provided to me. Subsequently, I got Rs. 1 Lakhs through cheque on 12-March-2016 with a promise to return rest within one month. Till this period, all the cheques amounting Rs. 7.25 lakh issued by developer got expired on [deleted].On 16-April-16, developer issued a cheque of Rs. 1 Lakh which bounced for reason of insufficient balance. The same was informed to the developer and police. In this way, developer has not refunded me Rs. 2.25 lakh out of which cheque of Rs. 1 lakh is with me which last bounced on [deleted] and is valid till [deleted]. Local police is not taking any action now and probably being get benefited by developer. I called police several times and also gave further written complaint to police/e-samadhan portal of jharkhand police. Also contacted with developer, but no action was taken except promises. What action i should take in this scenario to get me refund?
1) you can file complaint against developer before consumer forum and seek refund of Rs 2.25 lakhs with interest
2) also seek litigation costs and compensation for mental torture undergone by you
3) if police not registering FIR file pvt compliant before magistrate of cheating , criminal breach of trust against developer under section 406, 420 of IPC
Since the developer has to return you the said amount and he has faulted the payment by bouncing the cheque, you may first issue a cheque bounce case legal notice and then initiate both cheque bounce case as well as civil money recovery suit also.
The police after a certain stage may become unreliable hence you may not get justice through police hence better approach court of law for relief and remedy.
Hi, As and when the cheque is bounced you have to initiate proceeding under section 138 of Negotiable Instrument Act but you have not taken any steps for that.
2. So you have no other options you have to file Civil Suit before the Court for recovery of the amount based on the cheque.
3. You can also lodge complaint before the Consumer forum against builder for deficiency of services.
Police does not have any role to play in this as no provision of penal law has been breached. The remedy for you is to initiate a criminal prosecution for cheque bounce in the court after issue of a demand notice in this regard. This apart, a case for recovery of amount should be filed against him in the consumer forum.
Brief of my Case: In the above matter where I had paid Rs. 7.25 lakhs for purchase of land but could not get the land due to developer's internal issue ( Dispute of their possession). Developer had returned me Rs. 5 lakhs upon making complaint with administration . Administration got me issued a check of Rs. 1 Lakh out of my dues of Rs. 2.25 Lakh. The check was bounced while I submitted it. I sent a legal notice ( June-2016)and subsequently registered a case (June-2018) under N. I. Act 138 when there was no response of legal notice from developer side.The case was accepted in the court and proceeding was started. Till now, I have put up all the proof and have provided necessary witnesses as per our lawyer advice. Our lawyer was quite confident that we will win the case. Now, I am being advised by my lawyer that 2nd party is approaching for mediation and I should go for it. Today, I appeared before court and signed the paper for mediation but due to absence of mediator, mediation didn't take place. I have appeared in the court for 15th time including today and my lawyer tells me to be present in almost every hearing. Since this is a case of Rs. 1 Lakh check bounce and making this much of visit was unexpected as our lawyer had previously told that 4-5 visit will be enough and he will take care of rest. In the above context, I seek your suggestion whether It is going as usual and are we in the right direction ? Is there any way out so that I need not make personal appearance almost every time in the courtroom?
your lawyer can make application for exemption from personal appearance under section 205 cr pc
2) personal presence is not necessary on each date if you are represented by your lawyer
Since it is your own case you cannot adopt a casual approach to it.
If you don't cooperate with your advocate he may not take much interest which may result into failure or even you may tend to lose your case, hence better follow it properly especially when the opposite party is coming down for settlement.