Mangaluru: In an uncommon instance, a consumer court in Mangaluru has handed down a three-year jail sentence and imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh on five builders for violating the order issued in favor of consumers.

The individuals accused in the case are Ujjwala D’Souza and Naveen Cardoza, who are partners at Marion Infrastructures in the city, along with their development associates William Saldanha, Gayathri, and Lucy Saldanha.

Context: In 2013, the accused were involved in the construction of a multi-storeyed residential building at Gujjare Kere in Mangaluru, where they were selling units. Dr. Lavina engaged with the accused and entered an agreement to purchase a flat for Rs 40 lakh, inclusive of car parking. After making the payment, Lavina received the sale deed. However, the accused did not provide the car parking space as specified in the sale deed. Despite Lavina’s requests for the promised car parking, the accused refused. In response, Lavina issued a notice, but the accused did not comply.

Outcome: Subsequently, in 2014, Lavina lodged a complaint in the Mangaluru consumer court, seeking a directive for the accused to fulfill their commitment of providing car parking in the flat, despite having received payment. The Consumer Court deliberated on Lavina’s complaint and issued its final judgment on 24-06-2017. The court ruled that the accused had engaged in deficient service and ordered them to provide car parking along with compensation amounts of Rs. 50,000 and Rs. 10,000 as case expenses to the complainant.

Despite the accused appealing to the state consumer court against the order, their plea was dismissed, and the state court upheld the decision of the consumer court. Nevertheless, the accused continued to deny the complainant the right to park her car.

The complainant filed another petition in the consumer court in September 2022, citing that the accused failed to adhere to the court’s order by not providing the car parking. As a consequence of their non-compliance, the accused were charged under the Consumer Protection Act, 2019.

Acknowledging the complainant’s plea, the court noted the accused’s failure to comply with its previous order and imposed a fine of Rs 1 lakh each on the accused for their non-compliance.