Jio Ya Maro, But First Refund The Home Buyers, Says Supreme Court to Supertech?

Supreme Court on Tuesday gave a stern message to Supertech asking it to refund money to investors saying it was not concerned whether real estate major "sinks or dies", a direction which may soothe the hassled home buyers waiting endlessly for the possession of their dream homes.

The apex court directed Supertech to pay for 10 percent monthly of the invested amount from January 5, 2015, to 17 home buyers, who are prior to the court, within four weeks."Either you (Supertech) sink or die, we have no concern. You will need to pay back the money to home buyers. We have been least bothered concerning the financial status of the company," a bench of Justices Dipak Misra and Adarsh Kumar Goel said in the case it was pointed out that some builders have said that they had no funds to pay back the home buyers.

"Not all home buyers are against us and a number of them have even supported the firm and filed an appeal against the High Court order," Explained Mr. Dhawan, the counsel of Supertech, adding "there is a difference between Unitech’s case and us. They were without a building while there exists funds and building invested along with us have already been used for the construction of the structure."

He explained an overall total of 628 people had approached the company, of whom 274 have sought alternate arrangements, 74 requested re-investment and 108 have sought the refund.To this, the bench asked why Supertech had not been giving back the money to all the investors.Dhawan said there was a court order saying only individuals who have applied on time will get the money back and it was paying back the money for them.Counsels for home buyers refused Supertech’s claim and said they were not receiving the money promptly.

The apex court also asked the National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) to submit its report by October 25, after inspecting Supertech’s Emerald Towers to ascertain whether the two 40-storey buildings were built in the green area in violation from the sanctioned plan.On July 27, the court had asked NBCC to visit the site of twin tower and submit a report on alleged violations.It had observed the home buyers should not suffer on account of ongoing litigation as well as their money ought to be refunded when they want them.

Earlier, it had directed the company to deposit Rs five crore in the Registry as an element of refund to homebuyers for your project where Allahabad High Court had ordered demolition of the twin towers.

The Allahabad High Court had on April 11, 2014, ordered demolition of these two 40-storey residential twin towers - Apex and Ceyane - in Noida and directed Supertech to refund money to homebuyers with 14 per cent interest in three months.

The 2 towers have 857 apartments, of which about 600 flats have already been sold.

The apex court had on February 16 this past year directed Supertech to refund the money of the flat owners, saying, "Developers can’t take investors for any ride."Earlier, it had directed Supertech to give back money to flat owners who had sought the refund of the investments, following the towers were directed to be demolished from the Allahabad High Court.Holding that flat owner cannot have to remain in limbo and wait indefinitely due to litigation, the bench had also directed the company to pay for compound interest at the rate of 14 percent per year to allottees by end of October 2014.

Meanwhile, Supertech in a statement said : "Few allottees of our Apex and Ceyane Towers who were taking Return on Investment (ROI) from us, went to Hon’ble Supreme Court seeking the refund of their investment.If any ROI payment is pending, within 4 weeks," it added, "The Hon’ble Supreme Court directed the company vide its order today to continue their ROI till the main matter is decided, and further forwarded to clear.

Aashish Palliwal is a very specialized content writer www.indianhousingprojects.com professional too. He has/her written many articles about Indian housing