Civil Court denies Jaah Investment’s request to halt land transfer

Civil Court has denied a request by Jaah Investment Pvt Ltd for an interim order to halt the transfer of land back to the Housing Development Corporation (HDC), citing the company’s failure to complete the construction of flats in Hulhumale' within the stipulated 45-day period.

Jaah Investment filed a lawsuit in the Hulhumale' Division of the Civil Court, alleging that HDC had wrongfully terminated their agreement. The case was filed two days before HDC was scheduled to reclaim the land.

In court, Jaah's legal team sought an interim order to prevent HDC from taking over the premises.

However, Civil Court ruled that there was no basis to issue such an order, stating that the situation did not warrant urgent intervention.

The judgment noted that the order requested was not essential to prevent injustice.

Following the ruling, HDC has ordered Jaah to officially hand over the land.

Jaah, which had been developing 'The Gardens' apartment complex in Hulhumalé since 2017, was given extensions multiple times to finish and hand over the property, with the last extension given on January 27 this year.

HDC said Jaah had failed to finish the building within the 45 days of "legal notice" given, due to which they informed the contractor to handover the property and that the agreement was voided.

In October 2023, HDC said Jaah had started finishing work of all the apartments below the 10th floor, which included plastering, putty work, tiling and installation of ceilings. All unfinished works on the building would be completed within six months, HDC said at the time.

During that time JAAH was also notified to complete the 83 apartment building within 30 days and to pay HDC for the land as well. However, JAAH has reportedly not paid the money, nor completed the apartments during the time frame given.