Today, at a hearing on the Amrapali Group case, the Supreme Court stated that banks could not retrieve any money from the realtor, as the money it had was still technically the buyers', as they hadn't got possession of their flats yet. The Amrapali Group owes more than Rs 1,000 crore to about 10 banks.
The apex court also ordered the realtor to submit details of all projects nearing completion, total amounts collected from flat buyers, the amount spent on each project and the balance amount required to complete all its projects. The realtor, it said, would also need to furnish details of timelines for completing its various projects. The next date of hearing is tomorrow.
According to buyers present at the hearing, "nearing completion" would also include all projects and towers that have been constructed but have external or internal finishing touches left. The court clearly indicated that it wanted to ensure that these projects were completed on priority.
Abhishek Kumar, president of Noida Extension Flat Owners Welfare Association (NEFOWA), told City Spidey that the court has reiterated that the money paid by the buyers should only be used for the respective projects and for nothing else, and that technically the money would remain the buyers' till they actually got possession of their flats.
This came as a huge relief to the buyer fraternity, which had been on edge since the National Company Law Tribunal's (NCLT's) decision to pronounce the Amrapali Group insolvent.
Santosh Singh, a homebuyer, said that the court also directed the buyers to deposit with the court any balance amount they were yet to pay the builder. These amounts would be released to the builder only when he gave them possession.
