The state government seems to have clipped the wings of the Gurugram Bench of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA), while the other Bench in Panchkula has been “empowered”.

According to a notification issued by Arun Kumar Gupta, Principal Secretary (Town and Country Planning), the jurisdiction of the Gurugram Bench has been confined to Gurugram district only. On the other hand, the entire Haryana barring Gurugram will be under the jurisdiction of the Panchkula Bench.

The government recently appointed IAS officers KK Khandelwal and Rajan Gupta as chairmen of the Gurugram and Panchkula Benches, respectively.

Gurugram has long been considered the real estate hub of the state. The state-of-the-art infrastructure and proximity to the National Capital, the Millennium City has been a favourite destination of investors and end-users for several years.

But rapid urbanisation in other cities such as Panchkula, Faridabad, Sonepat, Panipat, Palwal, Rohtak and Jhajjar has attracted the attention of developers, investors and end-users.

It was believed that several NCR districts near the Millennium City would be kept under the jurisdiction of the Gurugram Bench. These included Mewat, Mahedendragarh, Bhiwani, Faridabad, Sonepat, Panipat, Palwal, Rohtak and Jhajjar.

It was contended that if the jurisdiction of the Gurugram Bench was confined, complainants from the NCR districts would have to travel far off to Panchkula to lodge complaints.

 Powers curtailed 

• Gurugram Bench to have jurisdiction over Gurugram district only
• Rest of Haryana under the ambit of the Panchkula Bench
• Gurugram losing its sheen as a real estate hub to emerging townships such as Faridabad, Sonepat, Panipat, Palwal and Panchkula
• Complainants from NCR districts will have travel a long distance to Panchkula for follow-up action

Source- Tribune News Service, Chandigarh, December 20