SC panel directs Noida to register lease deeds of homebuyers in Supertech Supernova

A Supreme Court Empowered Committee overseeing the completion of Supertech’s Supernova project directed the Noida authority to register lease deeds of homebuyers without insisting on the clearing of dues by the erstwhile developer, Supertech Realtors Private Limited (SRPL), currently facing insolvency

A Supreme Court Empowered Committee overseeing the completion of Supertech’s Supernova project directed the Noida authority to register lease deeds of homebuyers without insisting on the clearing of dues by the erstwhile developer, Supertech Realtors Private Limited (SRPL), currently facing insolvency.

Of 2,863 housing units sold in the Supernova project, possession has been granted for 1,121 units (HT Archive)

The decision comes as a relief to nearly 500 apartment owners in the project, who approached the court over the Noida authority’s refusal to register the deeds over dues. To be sure, the decision also applies to commercial units.

The decision of the three-member committee, headed by justice (retd) MM Kumar, former chief justice of the Jammu & Kashmir high court, taken on July 16, was placed before the court on Friday while hearing a petition filed by RK Arora, erstwhile director and promoter of Supertech Group, challenging an order of the National Company Law Tribunal to initiate insolvency proceedings with regard to the Supernova project.

Of 2,863 housing units sold in the Supernova project, possession has been granted for 1,121 units. About 5,251 units are lying unsold as construction is pending at various stages. The Supernova project was developed on 70,002 square metres at an estimated cost of ₹2,326.14 crore. It is a mixed-use real estate project, comprising residential, commercial, office space, studio apartments, service apartments, and shopping centres at Noida’s Sector 94.

The NCLT initiated the corporate insolvency resolution process against the developer on June 12, 2024, a decision upheld by the NCLAT in August and later challenged by Arora before the top court.

Advocate Rajeev Jain presented the committee’s report in his note concurring with the view taken by the three-member panel, also comprising Rajeev Mehrotra (financial expert) and Anant Kumar (construction and civil engineering expert). The committee replaced the administration and control of the SRPL on a court order of December 16, 2025, for exploring means to expeditiously complete the residential and commercial projects.

On the issue of whether “transfer charges” were payable by the homebuyers to the Noida authority, the committee said, “Transfer Charges are not payable on the first registration of the tripartite Sub-Lease... Such charges become applicable only upon a subsequent transfer by the sub-lessee.”

On the issue of whether homebuyers had to pay annual lease rent to the Noida authority, the committee was of the view that “homebuyers who had already paid one-time lease rent to SRPL could not be called upon to pay the same again to Noida.”

At the same time, it clarified, “In cases where such payment had not been made, Advance Annual Lease Rent would apply prospectively from July 19, 2026.”

The committee also dealt with the objection raised by Noida authority, insisting upon deposit of 33% of any amount received by SRPL, without giving effect to the “zero period” proposed by the top court in its December 16, 2025 order. By this order, the court held that until the construction of flats was completed, a “zero period” would kick in, during which the authorities and banks cannot insist on repayment of dues. While the authority claims the SRPL owes it ₹3,352 crore, the SRPL disputes the amount.

The committee termed Noida authority’s claim to be “premature”, reaffirming the finding of the court. The committee informed the court that so far, of the total apartment owners seeking registration, it has completed the verification of 56 owners and the same has been forwarded to the authority. This follows another list, comprising details of 23 owners.

As the Noida authority has not registered any tripartite sublease deed, awaiting the final decision by the court on the committee’s report, on Friday, the bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant along with justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana sought Noida’s response.

Senior advocate Ravindra Kumar, appearing for Noida, said that there was not sufficient time to take instructions, as the report, along with amicus note, was supplied in the morning.

It noted the final conclusion of the committee, which directed Noida to commence registration of the flats of homebuyers verified so far within two weeks. The amicus said, “Noida should now start registering the tripartite sub-lease deeds, as stated by the committee.”

However, Noida had in its response filed before the committee insisted upon payment of transfer charges and advance lease rent as a precondition to registration—a position that the court had rejected in its December 2025 order. On May 8, the court directed the Empowered Committee to take a decision on Noida’s claims and said that once a decision is taken, the court will pass appropriate orders after hearing all the relevant stakeholders.

The court has now posted the matter for August 11 to take a final decision on this issue, after which the court will also consider other recommendations made by the committee and the amicus curiae on August 12.