SC to hear homebuyers petition in Amrapali case

The Supreme court on Wednesday admitted all petitions filed by the homebuyers of embattled real estate firm, Amrapali. The newly constituted two-member bench of the Supreme court comprising of Justices Arun Mishra and M Shantanagoudar denied granting any interim relief in this matter. The next date of the hearing of the case is January 31. Amrapali has already deposited 10 percent of the total outstanding amount due to the Greater Noida Authority as directed to it by the apex court. Earlier there was a confusion regarding which authority is entitled to collect the dues. Legal sources had pointed out that the project Amrapali Silicon city falls under the jurisdiction of the Noida authority and not Greater Noida. The Noida Extension Flat Owners Welfare Association has also filed a plea in the court pertaining to some other projects of the Amrapali groups- Centurian Park, Amrapali Dream Valley, and Amrapali Leisure Valley projects that include Verona Heights, Jaura and Adarsh Awas Yojna. The Association in its petition alleged that the homebuyers of these projects be given the status of secured financial creditor to protect their rights against any future insolvency. Last year the Association had filed a petition on behalf of the Amrapali homebuyers of Golf Homes, Kingswood, Leisure Park, and River view projects. The case was initially heard by the Supreme court bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud. However, later the matter was transferred to the two-judge bench. The Supreme court had earlier on November 22, ordered the directors of Amrapali group to be present before the court on January 17, 2018, and had also restrained them from leaving the country without permission. It had also directed amicus curiae to open an online portal for homebuyers to register their refund claims. The portal came up on December 29, 2017, and closed on January 14, 2018, providing only a small window to buyers to register their claims. The National Company Law Tribunal had in September ordered for the initiation of insolvency proceedings against Amrapali Silicon city on a petition filed by the Bank of Baroda for an outstanding loan of Rs. 56 crore taken by the builder. The Bank of Baroda had in February 2012 sanctioned a loan of Rs. 100 crore to the Amrapali Silicon city.