SC to builder: Deposit 5 crore to pay buyers

In yet another case of real estate horrors, the Supreme Court of India has directed the real estate builders Supertech to deposit 5 crores to pay as compensation to the buyers of the stalled twin towers at Emerald Court in Noida's Sector 93A. The Allahabad High court had on April 11, 2014 ordered demolition of the two 40-storey residential towers - Apex and Ceyane - while directing Supertech to refund money to homebuyers with 14% interest in three months' time. Emerald Court RWA had taken Supertech to court, claiming the builder did not have the permission to build the two towers. A section of homebuyers are yet to get their refund while the matter is now being heard in the Supreme Court. The Supreme Court said the amount has to be deposited by July 25 and posted Supertech's appeal for hearing on July 27. A bench of Justices Dipak Misra and R F Nariman said the appeal would be heard only after the amount is deposited. After Supertech moved the Supreme Court against the high court order, the apex court ordered a stay on the demolition on May 5, 2014. However, in subsequent hearings, the court came down heavily on the builder. On February 16, 2015, the SC directed Supertech to refund money to the flat buyers, saying, & quot Developers can't take investors for a ride.& quot The two towers have 857 apartments, of which, about 600 flats have already been sold. Construction of the half-finished project has been stalled since the high court order. At the time of launch, the flats were priced between Rs 65 lakh and Rs 90 lakh. Supertech MD Mohit Arora told reporters: & quot The Supreme Court has given a decision to form a technical committee to further analyse the case. The final judgment will be passed only after this. In the meanwhile, the court has asked Supertech to deposit Rs 5 crore as security to safeguard the interest of the buyers.& quot Emerald Court RWA secretary Ajay Goel said, & quot It is a relief for the buyers. It has been a long struggle. Initially, Apex and Ceyane were not part of the plan. These came up in what was shown as green areas in the original plan.& quot

OUR TAKE

The people in charge of the construction of the twin towers surely made some grave mistakes in handling the construction. Building without permission should have bore more punishment than a mere 5 crore fine. But this should act as a reminder to everyone else. It also acts as a relief package for the buyers. As this is not the final settlement and there will be further inquiries in the project, more fine is expected soon.