Supreme Court directs Unitech developers to deposit Rs 750 crore by end of this year

The Supreme Court on Monday once again rejected the interim bail application of Unitech's managing director Sanjay Chandra. The court further directed the real estate giant to deposit Rs 750 crore with the court's registry by the end of this year. The court said it will consider the bail application of Chandra only after the money is deposited. Moreover, the court restricted other forums from taking any coercive steps against Unitech developer on basis of complaints filed by aggrieved homebuyers, informed advocate Ashwarya Sinha who represented over 100 aggrieved homebuyers from several projects of Unitech in the court. The Supreme Court permitted Unitech's counsel and officials to meet Sanjay Chandra in Tihar Jail for raising funds. It also allowed video conferencing facility to Chandra to be able to hive off his properties and assets to raise Rs 750 crore. Amicus Curiae Pawanshree Agrawal informed the court that around 4,200 homebuyers want flats, 5,000 homebuyers want refund and 6,000 people have not registered their claims on the portal so far. Agrawal estimated that over Rs 2,000 crore is required for giving refund to homebuyers. The Supreme Court in September had ordered formation of a web portal for homebuyers to register their claims for possession of flats or refunds. A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud also ordered amicus curiae to develop another portal where people who have invested in the fixed deposit schemes of Unitech can register their claims. In September, the Supreme Court had promised the aggrieved homebuyers that it will ensure relief according to their choice of- getting refund or possession of flat. Earlier, Unitech developer has already deposited a total amount of Rs 20 crore. Unitech developers Sanjay Chandra and Ajay Chandra are seeking interim bail from the Supreme Court after the Delhi High Court on August 11 refused to grant them bail in a criminal case lodged by homebuyers of Unitech's two Gurgaon projects. The court scheduled the next hearing for second week of January, 2018.