NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Thursday said it is high time that all states reconsider the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (RERA) constitution as the body does nothing except facilitate defaulting builders.A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said the people for whom RERA was established were “completely depressed, disgusted and disappointed” and asserted that it would not mind if the institution was abolished.
The comments came from the bench, allowing the Himachal Pradesh government to shift the office of RERA to the place of its choice.
The court heard a plea filed by the Himachal Pradesh government and others challenging an order of the Himachal Pradesh High Court in a case related to shifting of the state RERA office from Shimla to Dharamshala.
The Supreme Court had earlier stayed a June 2025 notification on relocation of RERA office until further notice.Later, in its order dated December 30, 2025, the Supreme Court directed continuation of the interim order.
The Supreme Court stayed the Supreme Court’s December 30 ruling.
“Except facilitating the defaulting builders, this institution does nothing. It is better to abolish this institution, we do not mind,” the CJI said.
“…high time that all states should revisit and reconsider this authority,” the bench said.
In its petition, filed in the apex court through advocate Sugandha Anand, the state said the decision to shift the Himachal Pradesh RERA office from Shimla to Dharamshala was taken to ‘decongest’ the city of Shimla and it was purely for administrative reasons.
Senior advocate Madhavi Divan, appearing for the state, told the court about the matter and said, “This is about RERA, which we are trying to shift to Dharamshala”.
A lawyer, appearing on behalf of the respondent, said 90 per cent of the projects the authority deals with are in Shimla, Solan, Parwanoo and Sirmaur, which are within a radius of up to 40 km.
He said that around 92 per cent of complaints pending before RERA are from these districts alone and there are only 20 projects in Dharamshala.
When the court was informed that a retired IAS officer had been appointed in RERA, the CJI said, “It has become a rehabilitation center in every state. These authorities are all occupied by these persons.
“The people for whom this institution has been created are completely depressed, disgusted and disappointed. None of them are getting any effective relief. Who this institution is actually for, you will find out when you meet these people,” the CJI said.
The top court also noted that Shimla is “completely overtired”.
While notifying the plea, the court said, “The state is permitted to shift the office of RERA to the place of its choice. However, it will depend on the final outcome of the writ petition pending in the Supreme Court.”
The Advocate General of Himachal Pradesh told the court that as per a policy decision, the state is developing Palampur, Dharamshala and other cities.
The CJI asked, “What is the logic of having a retired bureaucrat? How he can help in the development of Palampur. You have to take the services of an architect who is environmentally friendly, who knows Palampur area, Dharamshala area and these entire areas. Only those persons will help”.
The court was also informed that the District Judge, Shimla is hearing the appeals against the orders of RERA.
“To ensure that the persons affected by the orders of RERA do not face any inconvenience in visiting Shimla for the purpose of filing appeal, it is further directed that jurisdiction of appeal may be shifted from the Chief District Judge, Shimla, to the Chief District Judge, Dharamshala,” the court said.
On February 9, in a separate case, the apex court quashed an interim order of the Himachal Pradesh High Court staying the state government’s decision to shift the OBC Commission from Shimla to Dharamshala.
The top court had said such issues relate to policy decisions and normally do not fall within the judicial domain.
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