In Brief
Three appellants—Estate Officers of Chandigarh—challenged consumer forum orders directing conversion of leasehold residential properties to freehold. The Supreme Court held that conversion is a sale of immovable property under statutory rules, not a 'service' under the Consumer Protection Act, 1986. Therefore, allottees are not consumers and consumer forums lack jurisdiction. However, the informal administrative suspension of statutory conversion rules (via an internal note dated 10.05.2013) was found arbitrary and discriminatory. The Court directed the Administration to process conversion requests as of the complaint filing date within three months and constituted a committee to streamline Estate Office procedures for mutations, no-objection certificates, and unearned increase calculations.
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