JP Associates told to deposit Rs 200 cr
The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked realty firm Jaiprakash Associates (JAL) to deposit Rs 200 crore with its registry in two instalments for paying back the home buyers, who have opted for refund instead of getting possession of flats.
A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud asked the real estate firm to deposit Rs 100 crore by April 15 and the rest by May 10.
"JAL shall deposit a further sum of Rs 200 crore in two installments, as agreed by the managing director who is present in court on Wednesday. The first installment of Rs 100 crore shall be deposit- ed by April 15, 2018 and the second instalment of Rs 100 crore shall be deposited by May 10," the bench said, adding that its earlier orders, asking the firm to deposit Rs 2,000 crore had not been complied with. The real estate major said it had deposited Rs 550 crore so far with the apex court registry and sought indulgence on the ground that only 8 per cent of the over 30,000 home-buyers had opted for refund and rest 92 per cent wanted delivery of flats.
“We would intend to make it absolutely clear that for the present, we are only concerned with the home-buyers who intend to have refund. In the next phase, we may consider the grievances, if any, of the home buyers who intend to have the flats," the bench said. Lawyer Pawan Shree Agrawal, who is assisting the court as an "amicus curiae" (friend of the court), informed the court that as per his portal, an amount of Rs 1,300 crore, at present, had to be refunded towards the principal sum to the home-buyers. The top court asked Agrawal to prepare a "project-wise chart", giving details of the home buyers, so that an appropriate order could be passed for disbursement of the amount on prorata basis.
The court, however, made it clear that the requests for refund would be processed of those home-buyers who had registered with the portal till Wednesday.
The first installment of Rs 100 cr shall be deposited by April 15, and the second installment of Rs 100 cr shall be deposited by May 10