News Citation : 2026 LN (HC) 23
Bilaspur, January 9, 2026 : The High Court of Chhattisgarh has held that the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) does not have jurisdiction to examine or invalidate municipal completion certificates issued before the enforcement of the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016. Allowing a miscellaneous appeal filed by M/s Ralas and Chopda Builders and others, the Division Bench set aside an order of the Chhattisgarh Real Estate Appellate Tribunal which had refused to dismiss a residents’ appeal at the threshold.
The judgment was delivered by a Bench comprising Justice Rajani Dubey and Justice Amitendra Kishore Prasad in MA No. 49 of 2024. The dispute arose from a complaint filed by the Jeevan Vihar Residents Welfare Society, Bodri, alleging that the developers had failed to provide basic amenities such as roads, drainage, streetlights, gardens, water supply and other infrastructure in Jeevan Vihar Colony, Bilaspur. The complaint was instituted under Section 31 of the RERA Act, asserting that the project remained incomplete despite the sale of plots.
The developers contested the maintainability of the complaint, pointing out that a completion certificate for the colony had already been issued by the Nagar Panchayat, Bodri, on March 22, 2017, prior to the full enforcement of RERA. During the proceedings, a second certificate dated February 20, 2018 also came on record, which municipal authorities later clarified was issued only to correct clerical errors in the earlier certificate.
After multiple rounds of litigation before RERA and the Real Estate Appellate Tribunal, the matter reached the High Court of Chhattisgarh on the limited question of jurisdiction. The appellants argued that under the Chhattisgarh Municipalities Act, 1961, only municipal appellate authorities could examine or set aside completion certificates, and that RERA had no statutory power to do so. The residents’ welfare society, on the other hand, maintained that RERA was competent to scrutinize whether the completion certificate genuinely reflected completion of all promised amenities.
In its detailed judgment, the High Court accepted the developers’ contention that RERA lacks jurisdiction to adjudicate upon the validity or correctness of municipal completion certificates that were issued before RERA became fully operative in the State on May 1, 2017. The Court noted that the original completion certificate dated March 22, 2017 predated the substantive enforcement of RERA, and that the subsequent certificate of February 20, 2018 was merely clarificatory in nature, operating retrospectively and relating back to the original date.
The Bench relied on settled principles laid down by the Supreme Court to hold that clarificatory or declaratory instruments do not create fresh rights or liabilities. It further observed that any challenge to such completion certificates must be pursued under the remedies provided in the Chhattisgarh Municipalities Act, and not before RERA or its appellate tribunal.
Consequently, the High Court set aside the tribunal’s order dated April 24, 2024, which had rejected the developers’ application seeking dismissal of the residents’ appeal. Appeal No. 240 of 2024 pending before the appellate tribunal was disposed of, with the Court making it clear that neither RERA nor the tribunal could reopen or examine the completion certificates so long as they remain valid under municipal law.
At the same time, the Court clarified that it had not expressed any final opinion on the legality or procedural correctness of the certificates themselves. If the competent municipal authorities were to find, in future, that the certificates were issued illegally or without following due process, the affected parties would be free to pursue remedies in accordance with law, including under RERA, if applicable.
The judgment brings clarity to the division of jurisdiction between municipal authorities and RERA in Chhattisgarh, particularly in cases involving projects completed before the RERA regime came into force.
Case Reference : MA No. 49 of 2024, M/s Ralas and Chopda Builders through Partner Shri Sanjay Kumar Chopda, Bilaspur and Others vs Jeevan Vihar Residents Welfare Society, Bodri, through President Shri Laxminarayan Sharma, Bilaspur; Counsel for Appellants: Mr. B.P. Sharma, Mr. Vivek Chopda and Mr. Pushp Kumar Gupta, Advocates; Counsel for Respondent: Mr. Manoj Paranjpe, Senior Advocate, assisted by Ms. Shivangi Agrawal and Ms. Surya Kawalkar Dangi, Advocates.
