Section 57 RERA: Bombay HC Allows Direct Execution of MahaREAT Orders

The Problem: A Won Order That Nobody Enforces

A buyer files before MahaRERA, wins compensation or a refund, and the developer appeals. The Maharashtra Real Estate Appellate Tribunal (MahaREAT) confirms the order. Then nothing happens. The developer simply refuses to pay or to complete construction, and the buyer is left holding a piece of paper that reads like a victory but functions like a stalemate.

For years the confusion was procedural. Many buyers, and frankly many advisors, believed the only route against a non-complying developer was to push MahaRERA to act under Section 7 (revocation of registration) or Section 35 (inquiry powers). That belief created a dead end. Revoking a stalled project's registration does not put money in an aggrieved allottee's account, and it can actively worsen the position of every other buyer in that project.

The missing piece was execution. A tribunal order that cannot be executed is not a remedy at all.

What the Bombay High Court Held on June 24, 2026

In Rajan Chandiramani v. Swadhinta Builders LLP (Second Appeal No. 559/2025), the Bombay High Court settled the question. The court held that orders passed by MahaREAT are directly executable as decrees of a civil court under Section 57 of the RERA Act, 2016.

Section 57 states that every order made by the Adjudicating Officer, the Authority, or the Appellate Tribunal is enforceable as a decree of a civil court, and for that purpose the Authority and the Tribunal have all the powers of a civil court. The court read this provision as it stands. A buyer holding a confirmed MahaREAT order can walk into execution proceedings and enforce it the way any decree-holder enforces a civil decree.

The developer had argued that the buyer's only remedy lay in the regulatory route under Sections 7 and 35. The court rejected that reading and drew a clean line between regulatory action and civil execution.

Execution Is a Separate and Independent Remedy

The core of the ruling is that civil execution under Section 57 is independent of the Section 7 and Section 35 revocation machinery. These are two different tracks with two different purposes. Section 7 lets MahaRERA revoke a developer's project registration for defaults. That is a regulatory penalty aimed at the project. Section 57 execution is a personal, money-and-performance remedy aimed at getting the individual buyer what the tribunal awarded.

A buyer does not have to exhaust or even pursue the revocation route before executing. The court confirmed the buyer can go straight to execution. This matters because revocation often takes years, involves the whole project, and rarely produces a refund for a single aggrieved allottee.

The practical effect is that a confirmed MahaREAT order now carries the same enforcement teeth as a decree from a District Court, without a fresh suit and without waiting on regulatory discretion.

What Order XXI Rule 32(5) CPC Actually Allows

The court pointed to the Code of Civil Procedure as the toolkit for execution. Order XXI governs how decrees are executed, and Rule 32 deals with decrees for specific performance and injunctions. Rule 32(5) is the one worth memorising.

Where a decree directs a party to do an act (such as completing construction) and that party fails, the executing court may direct that the act be done by the decree-holder or by another person appointed by the court, and the cost of doing it is recovered from the defaulting judgment-debtor. In plain terms, if a developer will not finish the building, the court can have someone else finish it and send the bill to the developer.

Beyond that, standard execution powers apply: attachment and sale of the developer's property, and recovery of awarded amounts as arrears. A refund or compensation order can be executed against the developer's assets directly.

How to Advise a Buyer-Client Holding a Non-Complied Order

If a client comes to you with a confirmed MahaREAT order the developer is ignoring, the first step is to check whether the appeal window has closed and the order has attained finality. Once it has, they no longer need to lobby MahaRERA for revocation. They can file an execution petition directly.

Spell out the two options. For a monetary award (refund plus delay interest, or compensation), execution proceeds against the developer's assets through attachment and sale. For a construction or possession direction, Order XXI Rule 32(5) allows completion at the developer's cost. A property advisor should point the client toward a litigator experienced in RERA execution rather than a fresh consumer or civil filing, which wastes time. If the award includes delay interest under Section 18, the client should confirm the amount is computed correctly using the current MCLR before execution, and our RERA delay interest calculator gives a quick check.

When Your Disclosure Duty Gets Triggered

This ruling changes what a registered intermediary must tell a prospective buyer. Under Section 10 of RERA, a real estate agent is bound to facilitate only registered projects and to provide accurate information. A pending non-complied MahaREAT order against the developer of a project you are marketing is a material fact.

If you know a developer is sitting on an unexecuted tribunal order, and you sell a unit in that developer's project without disclosing it, you expose yourself to Section 62 penalties for breach of agent obligations, which can run up to a specified daily fine. You can estimate exposure using the RERA penalty calculator.

Before listing a project, pull the developer's history on the MahaRERA portal and check for complaints and appellate orders. A developer with an executable but ignored order signals financial or delivery stress. Flag it in writing to the buyer. That written disclosure protects both your client and your registration.

Exam Angle: Keep These Four Sections Distinct

The certification exam likes to test whether you can separate remedies that look similar. Memorise the distinct roles. Section 57 makes every order of the Authority, Adjudicating Officer, and Appellate Tribunal enforceable as a decree of a civil court, and this is the execution provision. Section 7 is revocation of project registration by the Authority for defaults, a regulatory action. Section 35 gives the Authority inquiry and investigation powers, including calling for records. Section 40 deals with recovery of interest, penalty, or compensation as arrears of land revenue.

Expect a question that asks which section a buyer uses to enforce an unpaid MahaREAT award. The answer is Section 57, not Section 7 or 35. Expect another linking recovery as arrears of land revenue to Section 40.

Work these into your revision with a topic-wise practice test on enforcement provisions, then confirm your recall under time pressure with a full-length mock test.