The Supreme Court on April 5 directed that the properties of one of the promoters of embattled real estate firm Amrapali, Ajay Kumar, be sold even as the court receiver sought directions from the apex court on whether the delay possession compensation allowed as adjustment by Amrapali should be sought from homebuyers as a precondition for registration.
The apex court has directed that properties of one of the promoters of the group, Ajay Kumar, be sold, Kumar Mihir, advocate, told Moneycontrol.
The order is awaited.
The Supreme Court’s order dated July 23, 2019, had quoted the forensic auditors’ report as stating that Ajay Kumar received funds from Amrapali group of companies which was used for acquiring personal properties. These included a property located at IRS colony, Abhay Khand, Indirapuram, Ghaziabad - Rs.1.38 crore; Property located at Plot No: A-014, Pelican Villa Jaypee Green Noida 201301- Rs.1.11 crore.
The Supreme Court-appointed court receiver R Venkataramani, who has been appointed to manage the affairs of Amrapali Group, sought the court’s direction on what needs to be done with the delay penalty adjusted by the real estate firm.
“Directions from the Court is solicited as to whether the delay possession compensation claimed by each home buyer, be given credit to facilitate completion of verification and onward registration,” the court receiver said in a note submitted before the apex court.
Since February 2021, the process of verification was resumed and left-over registration in certain projects was also undertaken. In the course of verification of home buyers belonging to Zodiac, Silicon City and Eden Park, an issue has been raised by home buyers that while considering the amounts recoverable from or payable by home buyers, the office of the receiver should give due credit to and whether delay possession compensation be allowed as adjustment by Amrapali, the note said.
The matter would be taken up at the next hearing which is on January 12.
The issue concerning what rate of interest Noida and Greater Noida authorities should charge builders will also be taken up next week.
In July 2020, the Supreme Court had capped the rate of interest at eight per cent to be charged by Noida and Greater Noida authorities on the outstanding dues by builders against the exorbitant 15 to 23 percent.
The court had in 2019 asked the government’s construction arm to finish and deliver 38,159 flats by 2023 after several homebuyers sought its intervention, complaining about years of delay in handing over of their homes.
The SC on October 13, 2020, had permitted the court receiver to incorporate a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to enable flow of funds from SBICap for completion of unfinished projects. It is for this reason that the company Amrapali Stalled Projects Investments Reconstruction Establishment (ASPIRE) has been floated. It consists of court receiver, forensic auditor and chartered accountant. It is a not-for-profit company under Section 8 of Companies Act, 2013.
ASPIRE had announced the sale of the units through an open draw.
More than 40,000 homebuyers invested in various Amrapali projects, most of which are in Noida and Greater Noida, more than eight years ago. NBCC has already completed and handed over two stalled projects.
NCR-based Gaurs Group has been awarded four tenders from state-run NBCC worth Rs 2,124 crore for stuck Amrapali projects which include Verona Heights, Heartbeat City and Amrapali Centurian Park with a total inventory of 10,964 flats.
The group’s wholly owned subsidiary, Gaursons Hitech Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, is executing these projects.
NBCC is involved in the completion of 23 housing projects of Amrapali. The estimated cost of completing these projects is about Rs 8,500 crore.