The Madras High Court has ordered a bank to return ₹55.50 lakh along with 9% interest from 2012 to a person who bought a house through an auction. The buyer couldn’t take possession of the property because it was later found to be on land classified as a water body.
The judges criticized the bank for not giving the property to the buyer as promised and making him struggle to get his money back, which he had deposited with the bank 11 years ago. The case started when a couple took a loan from the bank using their house and land as collateral. They couldn’t repay the loan, so the bank took possession of the property and tried to auction it.
The buyer won the auction and paid ₹55.50 lakh for the house. However, later it was discovered that the house was on land considered a water body, and other people had encroached on it. The bank didn’t inform the buyer about this problem, which was unfair and a violation of his right to know the truth before investing his money.
Because of this situation, the court has now ordered the bank to refund the money to the buyer with interest, as he suffered losses during the 11 years when he couldn’t use the property and could have earned more if he had invested in a different property without any problems.