SC directs realtor Supertech to refund money to homebuyers

September 07, 2016

The Supreme Court on Tuesday came heavily down on realtor Supertech, ordering the builder to return the invested money of the people who had booked the flats in its Emerald Towers project in Noida. The Court said that people should not be allowed to suffer because of the bad financial condition of a builder. & quot We are not concerned whether you sink or die. You will have to pay back the money to homebuyers. We are least bothered about your financial status,& quot a bench of Justices Dipak Mishra and A K Goel told Supertech, directing it to refund the money within four weeks to 17 homebuyers, as assured by the company earlier. The bench also asked the company to furnish a chart of payments made to the 17 buyers at the next date of hearing. The bench held that the company could not take the excuse of being in bad financial condition to deny the rights of flatbuyers who wanted their money back after the project got into controversy for allegedly violating the law. It also asked the company to consider providing alternative flats to them. The court also asked the National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) to inspect the site and find out whether the buildings had been built in the green zone in violation of norms. Supertech is the third real estate giant in recent weeks to have come under judicial scrutiny for not refunding money to the buyers. Earlier, Unitech and Parsvnath had ex pressed their inability to refund money due to financial problems, only to see the apex court rejecting the plea and directing them to take steps to pay back the money to buyers. The Allahabad HC had in 2014 ordered demolition of the two 40-storey residential twin towers - Apex and Ceyane - in Noida and directed Supertech to reimburse the flat buyers with 14% interest in three months. The twin towers have 857 apartments, of which about 600 flats had been sold. Appearing for Supertech, senior advocate Rajeev Dhawan told the court that the money had been invested by the company in construction of the building and that only a few of the buyers want to get back their money. He said of the over 600 people who approached the company after the HC order, 274 had sought alternative arrangements. He said the company was also returning money to those who approached it in time for refund.

OUR TAKE

Non delivery of possession on time is one of the major areas of conflict between the developers and the buyers and real-estate business is permeated with such precedents. There are numerous reasons due to which builders have taken more than the required time to finish projects while leaving home buyers to suffer financial loss. Unprofessional conduct and Corruption is rampant in this business. There should be strict regulation of this industry and stringent punishment for such malpractices.