New Delhi [India], August 16 (ANI): A Delhi-based elderly couple, aged 80 and 73, has finally secured a settlement after an 18-year ordeal over a flat they purchased in 2007 but never received possession of.

The couple had invested Rs 35 lakh of their life savings to buy a 3 BHK unit in a residential project at Tronica City, Ghaziabad.

Despite the lapse of 15 years from the agreed handover date, the builder neither fully developed the project nor delivered the possession of the flat.

In 2023, after Delhi Police declined to register an FIR, they approached the Delhi Court through Fidelegal Advocates & Solicitors.

Representing the couple, Advocate Sumit Gehlot argued that the builder never intended to deliver the flat and instead misled them into signing a buyback agreement in 2022 at Rs 34 lakh, even lower than the 2007 purchase price, while selling similar flats in the market at nearly double the rate.

He told the Court that the builder made only a small payment under the buyback, took back original allotment documents, and failed to clear the balance, leaving the couple distressed and facing threats.Advocate Gehlot described the case as 'double cheating' first by taking full payment without delivery and then by defaulting on the buyback. Initially, the police termed the matter as civil in nature, but the Court directed them to re-investigate.

During the renewed inquiry, the builder approached the couple with a higher payment offer, leading to a settlement.

On 13 August 2025, Advocate Gehlot informed the Court that the complainants, satisfied with the resolution, were withdrawing their petition for FIR registration. For the couple, the agreement marks the end of a long fight and closure on a dispute that began nearly two decades ago. (ANI)