NEW DELHI: After being detected by the Supreme Court-appointed forensic auditors as beneficiary of a 5,800 square feet penthouse in Noida for just Rs 20 lakh, cricket star M S Dhoni has rushed to the court fearing cancellation of the allotment and sought possession of the property developed by the controversy-hit Amrapali group.The cricketer purchased the five-BHK penthouse with a family lounge in Noida’s Sector 45 in 2009 for just Rs 20 lakh when the market price was above Rs 1.25 crore. When auditors Ravi Bhatia and Pawan Kumar Aggarwal found that Dhoni was among 655 buyers who got flats at throwaway prices in Amrapali, they sought an explanation from him on financial transactions with the group.The cricketer told auditors that neither he nor any of his family members had received any funds from the Amrapali group. He has argued that the cost of the flat should be seen in the context of Amrapali failing to pay him dues running into several crores and that the cost concession was due to his having been a brand ambassador for the group.The auditors, in their report to the court, said in some cases, flats were sold at a paltry rate of Rs 1 per sq ft while crores of unaccounted money was invested in various housing projects of the Amrapali group. The developer sold flats at ‘throwaway’ prices on paper but received around Rs 159 crore black money in cash from buyers.With the SC indicating that allotment of flats sold at such prices could be cancelled and auctioned to raise money to complete other housing projects of Amrapali, the cricketer moved the court for protection.In his application filed in the apex court, Dhoni contended that the allotment of the penthouse to him should not be “questioned” and told the court that he had also been a sufferer like other homebuyers as he had been duped of over Rs 100 crore by the Amrapali group.“It is respectfully submitted here that the price paid by the applicant is certainly not a paltry amount and anyway that was lesser due to the applicant being associated with the Amrapali group as their brand ambassador. It is also important to point out here that inadequacy of the consideration cannot be a ground to question the otherwise genuine agreement, more over in the background of the facts that the applicant has also been duped by the Amrapali group like other homebuyers and creditors and in fact most viciously,” Dhoni said in his application.The auditors, who were asked to audit all 46 companies of the Amrapali group to track diversion of homebuyers’ money, said in their report that more than 100 shell companies were set up by the group in the name of its officials, including one firm in the name of a peon, to divert money for purposes such as personal gain of its directors, officials and their relatives.There are around 46,000 homebuyers who have invested in Amprapali’s various housing projects but did not get possession despite paying up the money. As the lender banks initiated insolvency proceedings against the company, the buyers led by Amit Gupta moved the SC through lawyers M L Lahoty and Anchit Sripat for protection of their investment.Dhoni has also filed a separate application alleging that Amrapali group not only failed to pay him for services endorsing the company but also deprived him of Rs 25 crore which he had invested out of his pocket in a joint venture and was assured of a return of Rs 75 crore. He also alleged that the group also owed him Rs 38.95 crore for his branding and marketing activities and sought the SC’s intervention for reimbursement of Rs 114 crore.