india

Updated: Jul 23, 2019 11:59 IST

The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the cancellation of registration of all companies under Amrapali Group and said the real estate firm’s properties will be sold to recover homebuyers’ money.

Homebuyers, a bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra and Justice UU Lalit said, will deposit the rest of the money towards the houses in three months to be held in fixed deposit accounts in a bank.

It directed state-run National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) to complete the unfinished housing projects in Noida and Greater Noida using the money from home buyers to finish the houses and hand those over to them.

The bench also directed the Enforcement Directorate to conduct a detailed investigation against the group for diverting homebuyers’ money. The agency will submit its report to the court.

In May, the Supreme Court had noted that Amrapali Group had committed a “first-degree crime” by cheating homebuyers and those behind the mess, no matter how powerful they are, would be booked and prosecuted. The bench had refused to hear the group and its directors’ contention against the report furnished by the forensic auditors.

It is alleged that the real estate firm has cheated everybody, including homebuyers, banks and authorities. A report by the forensic auditors says the company indulged in cartelisation to prevent the debt recovery tribunal (DRT) from auctioning its unencumbered properties.

The top court was in May hearing a batch of petitions filed by home buyers who have not got possession of their flats, as per the date promised by the builder.

The fresh report by the two court-appointed auditors, submitted to the court on May 2, said Amrapali had diverted over Rs 3,500 crore of homebuyers’ money to different projects.