Make Apartment Ordinance Operational In 3 Months: HC To Odisha Govt

Cuttack: The Orissa High Court has set a deadline of three months for the state government to make Odisha Apartment (Ownership and Management) Ordinance, 2023, operational.

“We make it absolutely clear that within such time (three months) as suggested by additional government advocate, the rules under the 0rdinance shall be framed and given effect to. This court will not allow any prayer for extension of time,” the division bench of Justices Subhasis Talapatra and Savitri Ratho said while disposing a PIL filed by Bimalendu Pradhan, a resident of Bhubaneswar, in 2021.

When the petition, challenging validity of the Odisha Apartment Ownership (Amendment) Rules 2021 on the ground that it is contrary to provisions of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, was taken up on Monday, the counsels for the state government and Odisha Real Estate Real Estate Regulatory Authority (ORERA) state that it had become infructuous with the promulgation of the Odisha Apartment (Ownership and Management) Ordinance, 2023.

The ordinance to consolidate the laws relating to ownership of individual apartments in buildings and make the state compliant to Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) Act 2016 was promulgated on May 29 and notified on July 2.

When the petitioner counsel Mohit Agarwal pointed out that the ordinance is not operational as the required rules are yet to be framed, additional government advocate DK Mohanty prayed the court for three months’ time.