Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Real Estate Appellate Tribunal (OREAT) established by the state government to resolve issues related to real estate sector will start its judicial proceedings September 2, 2020.
The tribunal will hear appeals against the order of Odisha Real Estate Regulatory Authority (ORERA), which was set up three years ago, in accordance with the provisions of the Real Estate (Regulation & Development) Act, 2016.
Since real estate sector is highly capital intensive, absence of institutional mechanism to curb any tendency of fraud or cheating can have catastrophic consequences. Therefore, the government is putting all kinds of institutional mechanisms in place so that no one will be deprived of his/her rights, official sources said.
The number of applications received for registration of projects and resolution of disputes in ORERA is increasing rapidly. At the same time, grievances against the orders and directions of ORERA are also pilling up. Therefore, the government has set up a full-fledged tribunal.
Orissa High Court retired judge Subash Chandra Parija has been appointed as the chairperson of the tribunal while Ishan Kumar Dash and Malaya Chatterjee have been appointed as its members. An officer of the rank district judge Akhila Kumar Pashimakabat has also been posted as registrar of the tribunal.
Though the permanent office of OREAT will be at Toshali Bhawan in Bhubaneswar, it is now operating from a temporary office at Fortune Towers.
The required logistics and 38 posts have been sanctioned by the state government. Many of the employees have already joined the tribunal, sources said.
The tribunal has completed all the preparations to commence its functioning. All the cases filed before the Sales Tax Tribunal and at other places during the interim period have also been transferred to the OREAT.
In view of Covid-19 pandemic, the tribunal will hear cases through video conferencing and arrangements have also been made for making the order available to interested parties through e-mail, they said.