Delhi HC appoints local commissioner to inspect Spaze Corporate Park

NEW DELHI: Delhi High Court has appointed advocate Vivek Gurnani as the local commissioner to inspect Spaze Corporate Park situated in Sector-69-70, Gurugram and has file a report within 10 days.

The local commissioner will inspect the project and identify all the commercial spaces belonging to the petitioners and their present status, ascertain the extent and status of the construction and completion of the project and give a rough estimate as to the number of spaces in the said project and their occupancy at the time of execution of the local commission.

About 40 buyers, through their counsel Piyush Singh of PSP Legal, said that after almost eight years, only the bare shell structure of the towers was complete. Thereafter, in 2019, Spaze Towers offered a scheme for investment return and promised to repay the investment at either Rs 55 or Rs 65 per sq ft per month till the units were leased out. On completion of the project, the units were to be leased out to lessees.

According to the buyers, without consulting them, a lease was entered into between Spaze Towers and OFCSPC Worlwide and the same was a sham lease in as much as six months of the waiver of the lease amount was granted and thereafter it was shown as if the latter had terminated the lease with the former

Under the lease agreement, without informing the buyers and without impleading them, arbitral proceedings were initiated and the sole arbitrator, Justice (Retd.) Deepak Verma, was appointed as an Arbitrator. The buyers herein moved an application before the ld. Arbitrator, which was rejected.

The buyers hence seek for quashing/staying of the arbitration proceedings, an investigation via Serious Fraud Investigation Office (SFIO) against both Spaze Towers and OFCSPC Worlwide.

Counsel of the builder objected to the maintainability of the present petition to the extent that the quashing or staying of arbitral proceedings would not be a relief which can be granted in a writ under Article 226 & 227 of the Constitution of India. He also challenged the territorial jurisdiction of the court.

The court said that there is an immediate need to safeguard the possession of the commercial space booked and owned by the buyers. It has also given liberty to allottees to be present at the time of inspection. The SHO of the concerned area to assist the local commissioner.

The HC has directed Spaze to file its counter affidavit within 10 days.

The case will next be heard on April 15, 2021.