Bar Association president Advocate Harshad Bhadbhade said, "We are in the process of making a final list of lawyers and CAs, who are looking after RERA matters and are willing to provide free legal aid. We will provide free legal assistance to those struggling to hire professionals due to financial constraints."

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Advocate Godfrey Pimenta, a Bar Association member, clarified that the deserving complainants would receive two services -- a) free consultancy and assistance in drafting the complaint, and b) lawyers would argue the case before MahaRERA or the MahaREAT. The litigants will only have to pay R5,000 as fees for filing a complaint against the builder/developer.

The free service option was opened after it was noticed that many litigants were losing their cases because of lack of legal knowledge.

The free legal aid is being offered after it was observed that many litigants were losing their cases because of lack of legal knowledge. representation pic

"We have observed that many times individuals arguing in person before MahaRERA tend to lose track of their case as they are not aware of the nitty-gritty of law, whereas developers/builders hire professionals to represent them. In such cases, individuals' complaint is either dismissed or they are asked to file a fresh one.

Either way, they suffer a loss of Rs 5,000," Pimenta said.

Activiapplaud move

Housing rights activists have applauded the initiative and said free professional help would only encourage genuine and innocent customers to come forward and fight for justice at MahaRERA or challenge the MahaRERA order before the Appellate Tribunal.

"We are looking into complaints from fifteen flat buyers, who were promised possession of their flats almost a decade ago in a stalled project in Virar. They continue to stay in chawls across suburbs and don't have funds to hire a professional. We are asking them to approach the MahaRERA secretary to seek free legal aid from February 1," said Ramesh Prabhu, an activist and founder of Maharashtra Societies Welfare Association.

"Individuals seeking free legal aid will need to write to MahaRERA secretary, who will forward such requests to the MahaRERA Bar Association. In case of application in Appellate Tribunal, complainants will have to write to the MahaREAT registrar, who will forward the request to the Bar Association," Prabhu said, adding that the free legal aid is a platform for the voiceless. He said the move comes at a time when "majority of flat buyers are succumbing to the pressure from the builders/developers as they feel getting into litigation is not only time consuming, but also unaffordable, and hence, prefer to reach a compromise. Lack of awareness about MahaRERA makes the situation even worse".

I am happy, says litigant

Mary Mahadalekar, a 60-year-old retired bank official who is forced to stay in a rented house in Andheri East, said she was happy that the MahaRERA Bar Association has decided to help the people in distress.

"With no guidance, I wrote a half-page complaint to MahaRERA in August 2018 seeking a refund from the builder and paid Rs 5,000 fee. However, after the first hearing, I realised that it was not easy to present the case on your own. So I hired a lawyer who redrafted my application but I had to pay R5,000 again," she added.

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