Return money or face jail: SC to Amrapali-linked cos
COURT ALSO ORDERED THAT ALL ATTACHED COMMERCIAL ASSETS OF THE GROUP AND ITS DIRECTORS WILL NOW BE AUCTIONED AND CASH DEPOSITED WITH THE SC’S REGISTRY
NEWDELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday ordered the alleged beneficiaries to whom the Amrapali group transferred the money invested by thousands of homebuyers in separate projects of the realty firm that either they deposit the money with the court registry or be ready to go to jail.
A bench of Justice Arun Mishra and Justice UU Lalit warned all the beneficiaries, including Surekha Group that owns Jotindra Steel and Tubes Ltd, Amrapali Group directors Shiv Priya, his wife Sonali Suman, Ajay Kumar and others.
Ordering the Surekha Group to deposit ₹167 crore with the court registry within six weeks, the apex court said it will hear them only after they comply with the court order and deposit the money and said that its directors Vishnu Surekha, Navneet Surekha and Akhil Surekha will have to remain present on December 2, if they do not deposit the money.
The court told their counsel, Mahesh Jethmalani, that if they fail to comply with its orders, they will have to face serious consequences. “There are adverse findings against you in the forensic audit. Auditors have found that there was a transaction of ₹167 crore. It was homebuyers money and you have to return that money or face the consequences,” the bench said.
Forensic auditors had earlier detected siphoning of over ₹400 crore by Surekha Group, who according to them, is an authorised signatory of Amrapali in banks since 2016 onwards.
The top court also ordered Orissa State Housing Board and Raipur Development Authority, to deposit ₹34 crore and ₹19 crore, respectively with the apex court registry, which had been deposited by Amrapali Group with it for developing housing projects.
The court has granted four weeks time to the authorities to comply with its order.
According to advocate ML Lahoty, representing homebuyers, this is the principal amount deposited by the Amrapali for developing projects in the two states.
Amrapali has defaulted on building the projects and the money has been lying with the authorities for the last six years.
The court also directed three directors of Amrapali group — Shiv Priya, his wife Sonali Suman and Ajay Kumar—to deposit within four weeks ₹11.77 crore in the Supreme Court accounts.
The apex court also ordered that all attached commercial properties of the Amrapali group and its directors will now be sold/ auctioned by the Metal Scrap Trade Corporation (MSTC) and cash deposited with the apex court registry.
Earlier the Debt Recovery Tribunal (DRT) tried to sell them but could not do so.
The top court said the funds collected through auction of properties will help in speedy completion of stalled projects and bringing back the confidence of homebuyers.
The Supreme Court also directed Lahoty, the court receiver and the NBCC lawyer to discuss and agree which are the projects which can be immediately taken up for completion by the NBCC. Earlier, the court had cancelled the Rera licence of the Amrapali Group and handed over all stalled projects to the NBCC.