MUMBAI, April 4 -- The Bombay High Court has held that a builder cannot seek a refund of the expenditure incurred on a partially constructed building if the housing society cancels the development agreement due to delays, a ruling that is likely to be significant for several redevelopment projects across the city. A single-judge bench of justice Sandeep Marne said on April 30 that a developer can claim the cost of construction from a housing society only if the redeveloped building is complete in all physical aspects and usable by the society members. The court was hearing a petition filed by developer SSD Escatics Pvt Ltd, challenging an arbitral award dated June 24, 2023, which upheld the cancellation of its development agreement by Goregaon Pearl Cooperative Housing Society (CHS) in Siddharth Nagar, Goregaon. The arbitrator had also ordered the builder to pay Rs.7.17 crore to the housing society. Goregaon Pearl CHS had appointed SSD Escatics in September 2007 to redevelop its three wings. However, after the work got delayed, the two parties underwent a round of litigation and negotiated consent terms, under which the developer agreed to complete the redevelopment by October 30, 2018. However, on June 3, 2018, the society terminated the development agreement after the developer failed to abide by the consent terms. Based on a petition filed by Goregaon Pearl CHS, the matter was referred to a sole arbitrator, who ruled in favour of the society, prompting SSD Escatics to approach the high court. The high court upheld the termination of the agreement, with justice Marne noting that SSD Escatics had failed to abide by the timeline for completing the redevelopment project and had also breached several terms of the agreement and subsequent consent terms....