Once you file at RERA, can you still go to the consumer forum? What a 2026 Supreme Court ruling means for buyers

For years, Indian home buyers assumed they had two parallel tracks available: file at state RERA, and if unsatisfied, take the same dispute to the consumer commission. A Supreme Court ruling dated 4 February 2026 made clear that assumption is legally unsafe. Once a buyer actively pursues RERA proceedings, a subsequent consumer commission complaint on the same cause of action may be barred — not by the statute, but by the doctrine of election of remedies.

What the Supreme Court ruled

In M/s Kabra And Associates & Ors v. Rekha Rajkumar Hemdev & Ors, a bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and K. Vinod Chandran set aside an NCDRC order and held that the homebuyers in that case had already elected their remedy by approaching MahaRERA. Having withdrawn a MahaRERA complaint with liberty to refile, they then moved the NCDRC on the same dispute. The Court applied the doctrine of election: when two concurrent remedies exist, a party commits to one and forfeits the other. The liberty granted to refile at RERA was treated as an election to remain within that regime.

The case was reported by LawBeat. PropWatch has relied on that reportage; readers should verify the full judgment text via the Supreme Court's e-courts portal before relying on the ruling for their own matter.

How this sits alongside Section 79 of RERA

Section 79 of the RERA Act bars civil courts from entertaining disputes that fall within RERA's jurisdiction. The Supreme Court has, in earlier decisions, held that Section 79 does not bar consumer forums — consumer commissions are not civil courts. The 2026 ruling does not overturn that position. The distinction is this: Section 79 is a jurisdictional bar at the forum level. The election doctrine is a conduct-based bar at the individual litigant level. A buyer who has never filed at RERA is not barred from the consumer forum by Section 79. A buyer who filed at RERA, committed to that process, and then seeks the same relief from NCDRC — that buyer faces an election problem.

The existing post on forum choice

PropWatch has previously covered the three principal forums available to buyers — RERA, the consumer commission, and NCLT under Section 7 of the IBC — in the post 'RERA, consumer forum or NCLT — where to file when a builder defaults'. That post explains the structural differences in jurisdiction, remedy and timeline. The 2026 ruling adds an important overlay: the sequence in which you approach those forums now matters as much as the choice of forum itself.

Practical guidance — choose once, choose carefully

Before filing anywhere, map out what relief you actually need. If the project is RERA-registered and you want a refund with statutory interest, RERA is designed for that. If you want compensation for mental harassment and consequential loss beyond the refund, the consumer commission has historically been more generous on those heads. If the builder is insolvent and collective action is the only realistic path, NCLT may be the answer.

• Do not file a preliminary or holding complaint at RERA if you intend to ultimately pursue the consumer commission — even a withdrawn RERA complaint may be treated as an election
• If you approach RERA first and receive partial relief, consult an advocate before filing a fresh consumer complaint on the same project for the same cause of action
• Document the exact reliefs claimed in each forum — a complaint at RERA about possession delay, and a consumer complaint about a separate defect in the flat, may survive as independent causes of action
• Check whether the RERA order has been appealed before filing in any other forum — a stay at the appellate tribunal changes the position

SourceLawBeat — Supreme Court: Homebuyers Cannot Approach Consumer Forum After Choosing RERA Remedy (reporting M/s Kabra And Associates v. Rekha Rajkumar Hemdev, Feb 2026)

SourceRERA Act, 2016 — Section 79 (Bar of jurisdiction of civil courts)

SourceSupreme Court of India e-courts portal — for full text of M/s Kabra And Associates & Ors v. Rekha Rajkumar Hemdev & Ors