Amrapali homebuyers demand similar order from Supreme Court as in Jaypee case

Over 100 Amrapali homebuyers, who have roped money in three different projects of Amrapali group, on Wednesday approached the Supreme Court challenging the insolvency proceedings that was instituted by Bank of Baroda against Amrapali Silicon City over a default of Rs 55 crore loan. The homebuyers sought to protect their interests by treating them as secured creditors such as banks and financial institutions, the petition filed by 107 home buyers led by Bikram Chatterji has also sought enforcement of their fundamental rights that have been seriously violated by the provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016. The Amrapali group has liabilities of more than Rs 3,000 crore towards authorities and owes around Rs 1,000 crore to about 10 banks. Related Post: SC directs Unitech to give compensation to homebuyers The petitioners further plea, that they want the code to be held ultra vires to the Constitution as being violative of fundamental rights such as right to equality (Article 14) and right to life (Article 21). To protect their financial interests, homebuyers have also requested the apex court to make a similar arrangement as was done in a related case involving another real estate firm Jaypee Infratech, against whom insolvency proceedings have been initiated by the National Company Law Tribunal last month. The Supreme Court had taken consideration of a similar petition filed by squabbled homebuyers of Jaypee Infratech and had asked Interim Resolution Professional to submit an interim resolution plan within 45 days and also asked Jaiprakash Associates, parent firm of Jaypee Infratech, to deposit Rs 2,000 crore to protect the interest of homebuyers who have invested in the real estate major's 27 housing projects in the National Capital Region (NCR). Related Post: Greater Noida developers demand for no interest period for 4 years Stating that the National Company Law Tribunal order has a directed homebuyers of Amrapali Centurian Park, which is also owned by Amrapali Silicon City, the petition said that since both companies are run by the same directors, the resolution process activated in respect of Amrapali Silicon City cannot be viewed in segregation and apart from Amrapali Centurian Park.