News Point: Paras Buildtech is a case study in how to silence the homebuyers with brute power, intimidating tactics, political connections and connivance with police. Track2Realty goes down deeper to expose the audacity of the builder who is conveniently living in denial about poor construction and pathetic maintenance service.
Ever seen a housing society where the residents constantly live with the fear of losing dignity, getting thrashed, basic services denied, being framed in the false criminal cases by the builder, and even threat to life? Welcome to Paras Tierea, Sector 137 Noida Expressway, where the instances of residents getting thrashed by the security guards and builder framing the residents in false criminal cases are a matter of builder’s convenience.
Some of the residents of Paras Tierea were taken aback one fine evening on return to home after the day out in office. The builder, Paras Buildtech, had some special gift for them as court summon against criminal cases that these residents were completely unaware. After all, the residents were being served penalty for the alleged crime that they just wondered as to when was committed.
What has been even worse is the fact that the civilized residents who had no criminal past were alleged to have earlier repeatedly refused to receive the court summon. The scared residents were informed through the Noida Police that they had the audacity to repeatedly defy the police and the judiciary in receiving the court notice. The police had been so much under the influence of the builder’s political clout (brother of builder being Samajwadi Party MP) that they threw legally sanctified rulebook to the dustbin to frame the residents in a case that lacks the basic police investigation.
The shoddy police investigation only reaffirms the builder’s political clout to botch up the police investigation as per his convenience. As a matter of fact, the location of the so-called crime itself has been directionless, as per the FIR (First Information Report) of the police. It has been a result of police investigation from the comforts of office and on the instructions of the builder and his political backing.
If the police charge sheet is to be believed, the unarmed civilized residents had threatened & manhandled the builder’s staff who are always surrounded by scores of security guards. The core team of the builder anyway always has the additional comfort to be surrounded by the musclemen bouncers who deny access to any residents. It was nevertheless alleged that the builder’s facility management staff is constantly at the risk of security & life threat from these residents as and when they discharge their duty in asking for monthly maintenance charges.
Paras Buildtech realities
Civilised residents with no criminal past are treated like hardened criminals by Paras Buildtech
Security guards at Paras Tierea have thrashed the residents time and again
Builder frames residents of Paras Tierea in criminal cases to silence them from protesting
Paras Tierea is not the only project where buyers have legal issues with the builder; most of Paras projects have builder-buyer conflict
It is noteworthy that the builder’s security guards always use the brute power and have thrashed the residents on occasions more than one. But it seems the builder is determined to silence all the protesting voice against poor construction quality and pathetic maintenance ruthlessly, with callous disregard to rue of law and civilized business practices.
Three separate FIRs against a few residents are ridiculous to the extent that one of the complaints is based on the assumption that the protesting residents might resort to criminal intimidation and violence with the staff of the housing society.
The then Facility Manager of this housing society, Paras Tierea, Rakesh Sharma is on record saying that he did not want to file any police complaint or criminal case. However, the brief had come from the top management to implicate the protesting residents and he signed those ‘official’ papers without even reading it.
It is not that Paras Buildtech has issues with the buyers leading to legal cases with only one of the projects, Paras Tierea, due to poor construction and pathetic mismanagement of maintenance. The buyers of other projects of the builder, like Paras Downtown in Mohali or Paras Panorama on Zirakpur are also exploring legal options to resist what they call unjustified demands of the builder. Even the flagship project of Paras Buildtech, Paras Quartier in Gurgaon is also facing legal issues for violation of rules and regulations.
Threatening the residents with security guards and fabricating criminal cases against them are not the only arsenal that the builder uses against the residents. As a matter of fact, the then Facility Manager of the project had been constantly playing residents against each other to make sure the residents fight among themselves. Needless to say, it would ensure that the residents learn to live with the cruel reality of being constantly cheated by the builder despite of paying a hefty amount month after the month for basic facilities, or the lack of it.
After all, it is a matter of convenience for the management of Paras Buildtech to coerce individual residents than allowing them to unite and be answerable to the collective voice of the residents. The idea is to silence, censor and intimidate the residents who question deficiency in service and unethical business practice.
A housing society where the basic services like electricity is disconnected (as against the government norms & various court rulings) on late payment of maintenance charges, it is always the mercy of the builder as to when provide the services and when deny it. The message on part of the builder is loud & clear: you better succumb or else face the repercussions.
Furthermore, the documents and contractual details of the residents of the housing society that should ideally be confidential with the builder and used only when law enforcing agencies need that, are selectively leaked to create confusion and provoke one group of residents against the other.
A journalist with Track2Realty, who had been living over there, was also given life threat by the builder’s Facility Manager when he intervened and questioned the builder’s henchmen on behalf of the struggling residents. When reported to the top management of Paras Buildtech, including the CMD of the company Harindra Nagar, no action was taken.
This high handedness is paying off to the builder as the residents started feeling security threat for self and the family. As a result, many of the protesting voices got silent and learnt to live with the reality of the builder’s bulldoze tactics. Others started looking out for buyers to sell off the property and move out. The leading voices of protest under the banner of Paras Tierea Apartment Owners’ Association were already being implicated into the fabricated criminal cases and hence did not come out in the open to retaliate.
The builder had by then done his job to silence the homebuyers. However, this housing society is today sitting on a time bomb and no one knows till when would the residents live with the cruel reality of the builder. The builder’s bid to silence the homebuyers is nevertheless a case study in itself.
It is not that silencing the homebuyers has benefitted the builder. It has not and it will never as the word has spread across Noida real estate market. It has not only dented the credibility and brand reputation of the builder but has also been catalyst to most of the projects of Paras Buildtech waiting for new buyers.
The case study of Paras Buildtech to silence the buyers is a grim reminder to the sector that consumer confidence is the key to gain ground in the property market. A builder might be rich and powerful to silence the homebuyers with brute power, one would nevertheless win the battle but lose the war. The collective experience of victim buyers spreads like wildfire and that definitely dents the brand, goodwill and overall market share of the builder.
By: Ravi Sinha
