The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a plea by Jaiprakash Associates Limited – the parent company of Jaypee Infratech – to deposit Rs 400 crore a month instead of the Rs 2,000 crore it was directed to pay by November 5. The court had asked Jaiprakash Associates to pay the amount to safeguard the interests of 30,000 homebuyers.
The court’s direction came after it stayed insolvency proceedings against the real estate firm.
On Monday, the company asked the court whether it could deposit the money in parts, Mint reported. The counsel for Jaiprakash Associates told the court that the company had raised Rs 409 crore in seven days and would raise Rs 300 crore every month to pay off the total amount, IANS reported. “First deposit the amount, then we will discuss things further,” Chief Justice Dipak Misra said on Monday. “Till then, you can keep arranging for the money.”
The court ordered the firm to arrange for the Rs 2,000 crore by the next hearing on November 13.
Its plea came after the Supreme Court, on October 25, refused to allow Jaypee Associates sell the Yamuna Expressway project, in which it owns stake, to raise the money.
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 the bankruptcy proceedings after homebuyers told the bench they would lose all their money and asked the court to protect their interests. Their plea claimed that homebuyers, who are unsecured creditors, will get nothing out of the bankruptcy proceedings as dues of the financial institutions would be cleared first.
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