Supreme Court wants details of Amrapali projects nearing completion

Our primary objective is to make sure that homebuyers get their home at the earliest,” a bench led by Justice Arun Misra said while hearing petitions filed by home buyers

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that it will hear cases of residential projects of Amrapali Group that are nearing completion to ensure home buyers get possession of their homes quickly.

The Supreme Court on Wednesday said that it will hear cases of residential projects of Amrapali Group that are nearing completion to ensure home buyers get possession of their homes quickly. (Sunil Ghosh / Hindustan Times)

“Our primary objective is to make sure that homebuyers get their home at the earliest,” a bench led by Justice Arun Misra said while hearing petitions filed by home buyers. The bench asked the company to furnish details of its projects, money required to complete construction of each tower, money invested by the builder for each tower, how much money has been used towards construction and the time required by the builder to complete the work. The court will hear the matter again on Thursday.

‘Nearing completion’ would mean those towers where construction is over and external or internal work is pending. Once the details are there, the court is likely to ask the buyers to deposit the balance amount with the SC registry. The amount will be released only once the tower or the project is ready for possession. The money, court clarified, will not be used for any other project.

“We request the buyers to have patience. We are inclined to give the possession (of flats) to you,” the court said.

Aishwarya Sinha, counsel appearing for the buyers, said the court order is practical and in favour of the flat owners. “Nearly 90% of the flats in the Silicon City are complete. Such projects should be taken up in priority list,” he said.

SC is hearing the petitions of the home buyers, who have challenged the insolvency proceedings initiated by National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on a plea filed by Bank of Baroda.

NCLT had, in September 2017, initiated proceedings against Amrapali’s three firms Ultra Homes, Silicon City and Amrapali Infra, after the builder defaulted on an outstanding loan of Rs 56 crore taken from the bank.