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Supreme Court okays 22 CBI cases over banks-builders 'nexus' to dupe NCR homebuyers
The Supreme Court was hearing a petitions filed by 1,200 homebuyers, alleging they were being forced to pay EMIs despite having no possession of any apartments.
In a big win for the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the probe agency has been allowed by the Supreme Court to register of 22 cases into the "unholy nexus" between banks and developers to dupe homebuyers in the NCR region.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh was hearing a batch of petitions filed by 1,200 homebuyers alleging they were being forced to pay EMIs despite not being given possession of the flats they booked.
The homebuyers booked the flats under subvention plans -- an arrangement where sanctioned loan amounts were directly to sent to builders, who in turn were required to pay off the EMIs until the possession of the flats was granted to homeowners.
However, when builders defaulted on their EMI obligations, homebuyers were then asked to repay the amount by banks, invoking the tripartite agreement.
The top court has allowed the CBI to convert the six preliminary enquiries conducted against various builders and banks into 22 regular cases.
Developers in NCR and authorities in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are under the scanner in this case, reported news agency PTI. Those who had filed the pleas had booked flats in the NCR region especially Noida, Greater Noida and Gurugram.
The CBI was granted permission by the top court in March this year to launch five preliminary enquiries across real estate projects in areas including Noida, Greater Noida, Gurugram, Yamuna Expressway, and Ghaziabad.
The nod for a separate preliminary enquiry against Supertech Ltd. was also granted, after 799 homebuyers filed 84 appeals involving projects spread across eight cities.
Concluding the said inquiries, the CBI filed a sealed cover report before the Supreme Court, stating 22 regular cases were required to be filed for further probe.
"We accept the recommendation and the CBI shall accordingly register regular cases and proceed in accordance with law," the bench then ordered.
Besides, the top court also noted that it won't entertain homebuyers who were offered possession but did not choose to take it and and pursue litigation instead. "We will not entertain such homebuyers, who are very few in number, and we will not permit misuse of the court's platform. They are free to approach the appropriate forum and seek whatever legal remedies may be available to them, but not before this court," the bench stated.
Apart from the ones in NCR, the CBI has a seventh preliminary enquiry underway, probing builders except Supertech Ltd, in Mumbai, Bangalore, Kolkata, Mohali and Allahabad, for which the Supreme Court has granted the agency six weeks.
(With PTI inputs)
