The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked real estate firm Amrapali Group to furnish by Thursday details of 47 residential towers nearing completion in Noida and Greater Noida, PTI reported. It asked the company to disclose how much money it had taken from flat buyers and the amount invested.
The top court is hearing a batch of petitions filed by homebuyers seeking to have the insolvency proceedings, which the National Company Law Tribunal initiated against the Amrapali Group, quashed. They claimed that the provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016 violated their fundamental rights as they prioritised lending institutions.
The petitioners have said that more than 100 people had booked homes in the Amrapali Centurion Park - Low Rise project, Amrapali Centurion Park - Terrace Homes and Amrapali Centurion Park - Tropical Garden in Greater Noida between 2012 and 2014. They claimed they neither got possession of the flats, nor receive a refund.
On Wednesday, the Supreme Court asked the Amrapali Group to disclose details of its funds frozen after insolvency proceedings were initiated against the company. “Our ultimate concern is that homebuyers should get their flats as early as possible,” a bench of judges Arun Mishra and Amitava Roy said.
The Amrapali Group has claimed that work on the incomplete towers would be completed in 14 to 16 weeks. “We can ask them to deposit the money in the court-monitored bank account, and that fund will be given to you only after the developer finishes the work in the 47 towers,” the court said.
The company’s counsel Ranjit Kumar told the bench that the firm would need Rs 130 crore to finish work on the 47 towers, but said he would furnish precise details by Thursday. The bench will hear the matter again later in the day.
The Amrapali Group has sought the top court’s permission to assign to other builders the task of completing work on the 47 towers. The company said it is not in a position to complete the project and hand over possession of flats to over 42,000 homebuyers within a deadline. It claimed that many firms have expressed interest in completing the projects.
On January 31, the Supreme Court asked the Amrapali Group to submit a comprehensive plan on completing the projects in a time-bound manner.
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