Anil Kumar Sharma, Chairman, Amrapali Group
N early 100 irate homebuyers protested against three realtors involved in the building of the PAN Oasis tower project in Sector 70 on Friday. Buyers alleged, besides not delivering their homes on time, the trio - Patel Group, Nirala and the Amrapali Group - had used inferior quality material in the 18 group housing towers whose construction had been stopped midway, delaying the project . The developers’ representative said the delay was due to the National Green Tribunal’s ( NGT) ban on issuing completion certificates to 49 developers who had built projects near the Okhla Bird Sanctuary. “The allegation of inferior quality is baseless. We are ready to conduct any quality test,” said Rajiv Gupta, deputy general manager (sales and marketing), PAN Oasis. Enraged buyers came with their families and indulged in heated arguments with the realtors’ staff, who tried to stop the protest at the construction site. “I had booked a 2-BHK flat in September 2009 and the realtor had assured possession by July 2012. Even after the twoyear delay, the builder has failed to complete the construction, let alone providing possession of the flat,” repeated efforts while “I am paying home loan EMIs as well as rent”. The PAN Oasis project has 2, 000 housing units and was launched in 2009. Buyers alleged that construction was said Sunny, one those present at the protest. He added that the realtors had not met buyers despite halted for a year and a half as the realtors had failed to pay dues to the contractor. Another buyer, Jitender, said the realtor had not issued the exact date of delivery. “The buyers are suffering as they are facing financial
issues as most of us had planned to move into our flats by 2012. Under the given circumstances, the realtors will not give possession in the next five years,” he said. The protestors also alleged that realtors were failing to fulfill the promises outlined in the brochure handed over at the time of booking a flat. According to the UP Apartment Act (2010), a realtor is legally bound to deliver on all brochure promises. The realtors, however, refused the buyers’ allegations.
LS poll: JD(U) nominee is the richest candidate in Bihart
PATNA: Real estate baron Anil Kumar Sharma, fighting Lok Sabha election on a JD(U) ticket from Jehanabad, is the richest candidate in poll fray in Bihar with assets worth Rs 850 crore. Chairman-cummanaging director (CMD) of the Amrapali Group of Companies, Sharma (50) has most of his wealth in the form of movable assets pegged at Rs 815 crore. He has Rs 2.15 crore cash in hand and jewellery worth Rs 3.1 crore. He also owns a Ford Endeavour bought in 2004. Most of the investments made by Sharma, who resides in Delhi and is listed there as a voter, are in his own group of companies. He has residences in New Delhi, Greater Noida (UP), Goa and Patna. He has shown his total annual income as Rs 10.36
crore in the Income Tax Returns filed for 2012-13. His wife Pallavi Mishra has assets worth Rs 1.75 crore. This includes 1.2 kg of gold and silver jewellery worth Rs 51 lakh. In his maiden electoral foray, the builder is pitted against Arun Kumar of Rashtriya Lok Samata Party (RLSP) and Surendra Yadav of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), who have assets worth Rs 4 crore and Rs 5 crore respectively. Jehanabad goes to poll in the second phase on April 17.
Amrapali says cheques given to Dhoni were to build hospital
NEW DELHI: Real estate firm Amrapali on Monday said cheques for Rs 75 crore given to Indian cricket team captain S Dhoni were for building a hospital in Ranchi and the same were returned as the project did not take off.
The developer’s remark come amid reports that the cheques given by the company to Dhoni were under the I-T scanner. “We had given cheques to Dhoni for building a hospital in Ranchi. The project, however, could not take off and hence the cheques were returned,” Amrapali group CMD Anil Kumar Sharma, who is fighting his maiden general elections from Bihar on JD (U) ticket, said. He was replying to a query related to media reports that the Income Tax Department was looking into cheques issued by Amrapali Group to Dhoni, who is a brand ambassador for the group. A media report had said that “issued in the financial year 2011-2012, the cheques were to be encashed in 2014”. Sharma, who has entered politics and is fighting the Lok Sabha polls from Jehanabad seat in Bihar, said, however, he could not recollect the exact date when the cheques were returned. Meanwhile, sources in the tax department said they were not “investigating any tax evasion case” against Dhoni including in the recent cheque case.
Dhoni to be questioned by IT department
India captain MS Dhoni is facing possible tax implications of four postdated cheques worth Rs. 75 crores issued by a company. Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni seems to be getting no respite at all from off-field controversies after the Ranchi unit of the Income Tax Department is now believed to be investigating tax implications of four post-dated cheques worth Rs 75 crore issued to Dhoni by Amrapali Group Chairman Anil Sharma. Dhoni, a brand ambassador of Amrapali, was issued the cheques in 2011-12 with a provision for them to be encashed in 2014. Dhoni’s wife Sakshi Singh Rawat is a 25 per cent stake holder in Amrapali Mahi Developers Private Ltd, a joint venture between the firm and the Indian captain. There were contrasting responses from Dhoni’s spokesperson and the Amrapali group about the cheques. While Dhoni’s spokesperson claimed that the cheques were “a security” on the investment made by him in Amrapali Mahi Developers, the Amrapali group said the money was given as an “assurance and commitment” for a cricket academy in Ranchi to be built by Amrapali Mahi Developers. The Amrapali group also confirmed that the captain had returned the cheques since the project failed to come to fruition.
BRAND AMBASSADOR
“The cheques were given to MS Dhoni, who is our brand ambassador, for a cricket academy in Ranchi as an assurance and our commitment to the project. He has returned the cheques since the project did not take off,” the company spokesperson told The Indian Express. The company however did not clarify why the cheques were issued in Dhoni’s name and not to Amrapali Mahi Developers. Dhoni’s spokesperson Arun Pandey told The Indian Express in a text message: “I am not aware of the financial matters of M S Dhoni but, to the best of my knowledge, Anil Sharma has given cheques to M S Dhoni as security of the investment made by M S Dhoni in Amrapali.” The Income-Tax department is believed to have asked for details of the cheques after media speculation and an IT raid in August 2013 on the Amrapali offices in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. Amrapali officials have confirmed that the case has been handed over to the Ranchi IT department where Dhoni is an assessee. dhoni is likely to be questioned soon after he returns from Bangladesh. Dhoni, when contacted about the issue during the ongoing ICC World T20, refused to comment on the matter. “We admit that the project has been delayed due to various reasons. Now we are not getting a completion certificate from the Noida Authority. Four towers are in the final stage of completion,” said Gupta.