HOME BUYER CAN CLAIM INTEREST FOR DELAY EVEN AFTER ACCEPTING FLAT: ALLAHABAD HC

September 24, 2026

LUCKNOW: The Allahabad High Court has held that a homebuyer does not lose the right to claim interest for delayed possession merely because the buyer subsequently accepted the flat.

The ruling came in a dispute involving the Antriksh Golf View project in Noida. The buyer, Shyam Sunder Agrawal, had booked the flat in 2010, with possession due by November 2012. The developer offered possession only in May 2017.

The developer argued that the delay was caused by restrictions imposed by the National Green Tribunal around the Okhla Bird Sanctuary. The High Court rejected the argument, noting that the contractual deadline had expired in November 2012, before the NGT restrictions came into force in August 2013.

The court also held that the Supreme Court-recognised “zero period” benefit could apply only to the period during which the project was actually affected by the restriction. It could not erase delays that had already occurred before the restriction. The court therefore upheld the direction requiring the developer to pay interest for the delayed period.

The High Court further observed that RERA does not prescribe a specific limitation period for seeking interest arising from delayed possession.