5,000 homebuyers in Manesar to get affected after Supreme Court's ruling

The BJP government in Haryana has further amplified the investigation into the land acquisitions made during Congress CM Bhupinder Singh Hooda's reign by asking the CBI to investigate deals in Rohtak and Sonipat that were similar to those in Manesar. Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar followed up the announcement of investigation on Tuesday with a scathing attack on Congress in the state assembly by saying “ Inka aisa koi saga nahi, jinko Congress ne thaga nahi. However, while the CM didn't miss the opportunity to turn up the political heat on Congress a day after the Supreme Court dismissed the acquisition of 688 acres in Manesar, homebuyers worried about the fate of their investments and the petitioner was concerned that farmers would have to visit many more government offices to claim the compensation they were entitled to. The Manesar land deals happened in 2004 when the Hooda government issued a notification for acquisition of 688 acres but withdrew it later. During that time, the prospect of acquisition had already initiated distress sales by landowners to private builders in the belief that these deals would get them a better price. By the time the state revoked the notification, the builders had already managed to buy 400 acres for Rs. 100 crore, as against the market value of Rs. 1,600 crore. On Monday, the Supreme Court reversed the dismissing of the acquisition and ruled that the ownership of the land now rested with Haryana Industry Body HSIIDC and Urban Development Authority HUDA. The builders, according to the ruling, could approach the government for an interest-free refund of the money they paid for acquisition and development costs of the land. Moreover, “ In cases where, constructions have been erected and the entire project is complete or is nearing completion, upon acceptance of the claim, the plots or apartments shall be made over to the claimants on the same terms and conditions,” states the order. In addition to this, 4 licenses have so far been issued to developers- ABW, Karma, Unitech, and RP Estate and Innovative- who own parts of this contentious land in Manesar. Of these, work has started on 2 projects: ABW Aditya Niketan (which didn't progress beyond boundary walls) and Express Greens (which is being developed by DLF after ABW sold land to it, and is almost complete). Together, the 2 projects include 3,200 flats. There are another 1,800 flats in projects conceived in the area, taking the total number of homebuyers affected by the judgment to around 5,000. “ The most important question is whether the developer will complete the rest of the construction or not& quot . As homebuyers, we have made the full payment but the society is incomplete. Someone has to be assigned the responsibility of completing that work,” said a homebuyer of Express Greens, requesting anonymity. The ABW homebuyers' group, however, saw a silver lining since the project of 2,000 flats has made no progress. “ We are glad the land has been transferred to HSIIDC and HUDA. We will meet officials soon to discuss the future course of action and submit our claims,” said Naresh Jindal of ABW Manesar Allottee Welfare Society.