India, Sept. 5 -- The Maharashtra Real Estate Appellate Tribunal (MahaREAT) has ordered Valor Estate (formerly DB Realty) and the Prestige Group to restore the status of their luxury high-rise project in Mahalaxmi from residential-cum-commercial to residential, to honour commitments made to homebuyers nearly two decades ago.

In a judgment delivered on August 25, justices SS Shinde and Shrikant M Deshpande ruled that the Maharashtra Real Estate Regulatory Authority's (MahaRERA) approval to change the promoter and alter the project, earlier known as Orchid Turf View, was "bad in law" and granted "without appreciating and verifying the facts.".

The dispute dates back nearly two decades. The petitioners-Aditya Bagree, Chand Bagree, Kesari R...