The Supreme Court on Monday sought to know whether the six-lane Yamuna Expressway belonged to debt-ridden realty firm Jaypee Associates, PTI reported. The company had earlier proposed to sell the expressway project to raise funds in order to pay back the money it owes to over 30,000 homebuyers.
The six-lane project is a major expressway connecting Greater Noida and Agra, in which Jaypee owns stake. Senior lawyer Kapil Sibal, appearing for the company, told the court that it has an offer of Rs 2,500 crore for the expressway.
The counsel appearing for IDBI Bank had raised an objection to Jaypee Associates’ plea claimed that since the property does not belong to the firm, it cannot be allowed to hive off the expressway.
“It must also be clarified whether the property belongs to you [Jaypee Associates],” the bench, headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra said. The Supreme Court posted the matter for further hearing on October 25.
On September 11, the Supreme Court had asked Jaypee Associates to deposit Rs 2,000 crore with the court’s registry by October 27. More than 30,000 people had invested money and booked homes in 27 of the company’s projects. The Supreme Court asked an interim resolution professional, appointed by the National Company Law Tribunal, to take over the management of Jaypee Infratech and submit a plan to protect the interests of home buyers and creditors in 45 days.
The proceedings against Jaypee
On August 10, the Allahabad bench of the National Company Law Tribunal had allowed insolvency proceedings against Jaypee Infratech, after its financier IDBI filed a petition against the firm for defaulting on a Rs 526-crore loan.
On September 4, the Supreme Court stayed insolvency proceedings against the real estate firm after home buyers told the bench they would lose all their money. They had asked the court to protect the interests of the thousands who had invested money to book homes in 27 different projects of the debt-ridden realty firm. Their plea claimed that home buyers, who are unsecured creditors, will get nothing out of the insolvency proceedings as dues of the financial institutions will be cleared first.
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