Jaypee told to deposit Rs 200 crore with Supreme Court by May 10

The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked Jaypee Associates Limited (JAL), the parent company of real estate major Jaypee Infratech Limited (JIL), to deposit Rs 200 crore in two instalments to pay back 2,800 home buyers who have opted for refunds instead of taking possession of flats.

A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud said Rs 100 crore would be deposited by April 15 and the remaining Rs 100 crore by May 10. The apex court also asked for a list of homebuyers who have sought refunds.

The top court also indicated that it will order disbursal of the amount on pro-rata basis on the next hearing, which is on April 16.

It was also clarified that the court will entertain requests of only those people who have updated their details on the portal started to maintain a data of homebuyers.

On being told that the developer had raised demands to the home buyers seeking refund of their money, the court stopped the company from doing so. It also stayed the demands raised in the last three months.

The bench refused to entertain JAL’s opposition to refund and said the company cannot sit on people’s money. “We are only concerned with those who are not interested in your projects and that is why we have intervened. Those who want to remain with you can continue,” the bench said.

The SC is hearing petitions against the insolvency proceedings that began after the IDBI Bank approached the Allahabad bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) with a complaint that JIL had defaulted in making payments. Taking note of the homebuyers’ petition, the court had first stayed the proceedings in the NCLT. JAL was later asked to deposit Rs 2,000 crore with the court to safeguard the interests of flat owners.

Advocate Pawan Shree Agrawal, assisting the court in the matter, said JAL had so far deposited Rs 550 crore with the registry. As per his calculation , another Rs 1,300 crore is required to refund the principal sum for those who want to opt out of the housing projects. The court asked him to prepare a project-wise chart, indicating the number of flat buyers and stage of completion and place it before the court on April 16.

Although the bench allowed the interim resolution professional (IRP) – appointed after insolvency proceedings started against JIL – to proceed with the finalisation of the resolution plan, it said the same shall be implemented after taking leave of the top court.

It also asked the IRP to get a ground report of the status of the housing projects after the JAL counsel claimed the developer was in a position to complete the construction of flats. The IRP is likely to open the bids to prospective buyers keen to take over the projects.

The court also appointed advocate Gaurav Agrawal to represent home buyers before the Cabinet Committee of Creditors (COC), which is preparing a resolution plan. This was done because senior advocate Shekhar Naphade, who was earlier asked to attend the meet, expressed his inability to continue.