The court added that funds collected by the Group from homebuyers will be made available to the NBCC to complete the projects. (Express Photo by Gajendra Yadav)
With the National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) Ltd agreeing to “undertake” the unfinished projects of real estate major Amrapali Group, the Supreme Court Thursday asked the Corporation to submit within 30 days a “concrete proposal” to complete their construction so that possession can be given to the buyers. A bench of Justice Arun Mishra and Justice U U Lalit gave the NBCC time till September 4 to submit the plan, indicating how it proposed to complete the projects and a timeline for the same.
The court added that funds collected by the Group from homebuyers will be made available to the NBCC to complete the projects. On Wednesday, the bench had ordered a freeze on the accounts of 40 subsidiary companies of the firm. Going a step further on Thursday, it asked the Group’s former statutory auditor to audit all its accounts to find out how the Rs 2,765 crore collected from homebuyers was diverted. It directed the group to hand over all relevant documents to the auditor.
The bench allowed an application filed by the Group and recalled its earlier order asking it to deposit Rs 250 crore — but not before it censured the firm for not complying with the order. “You (group) have not deposited the money. How can we rely on you? Why should we trust you?…” said the bench.
While freezing the 40 bank accounts, the court had also directed the firm to produce its bank details. On Thursday, it furnished details of only 38 accounts. The apex court directed its Registry to intimate the banks to freeze the accounts and asked the Group to produce details of the remaining accounts by next Wednesday.
The bench had earlier sought the personal appearance of the Secretary, Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, to explain how it had dealt with Amrapali at a time when the court was already seized of the matter.
Appearing before the bench Thursday, officer Durga Shanker Mishra said the UP government had set up a panel under his chairmanship to look into the problem of homebuyers. He said the committee had held meetings on June 25 and July 10, after which four realtors, including Amrapali, were called for a meeting on July 18. He added that he was not aware of the SC order in Amrapali matter and never intended to violate it. The SC told him that this amounted to “contempt” of the order.
NBCC Chairman Dr Anoop Kumar Mittal also appeared in the court in pursuance to its direction, and said they had issued a general advertisement inviting co-developers and that it was not specifically for Amrapali. The court will hear the matter next on August 8.
Gangster Act against builder
Noida: The Gautam Buddh Nagar administration imposed the Gangster Act on the director and builder of AVJ Heights in Greater Noida for selling the same apartments to multiple buyers. ENS