Amrapali
They were asked why a criminal case for breach of trust should not be lodged against them.
The Supreme Court is hearing a batch of petitions filed by homebuyers who are seeking possession of around 42,000 flats booked in Amrapali Group projects.
The court order came after advocate ML Lahoty, a lawyer for the homebuyers, submitted that the company defrauded investors and should be prosecuted under criminal law. Lahoty alleged the company diverted around ₹3,000 crore of homebuyers’ money for other purposes — a charge the company denied.
“You [Amrapali Group] are a worst kind of cheater. You have cheated the homebuyers all along and now you want to sell the facilities created for them. The facility area created for the homebuyers is not charity you have done to them,” the bench said after it was told that the real estate firm wants to sell a nursery school, an open space and a nursing home to raise funds.
Senior advocate Geeta Luthra, who represented Amrapali, denied allegations of diversion of funds. She said the company complied with all the directions issued by the court.
The court gave a day’s time to the group to hand over raw data files of the business transactions, including vouchers, receipts and the required authorisation for the period of 2015-18 to court-appointed forensic auditors.
“”You are a perfect liar. You are a first-degree liar. You have not given specific information that we have asked for in our earlier orders. We’re not satisfied with your affidavit and you have only tried to manipulate the things. Despite nine orders, you have not given specific information about business transactions for the period 2015-18,” justice Mishra said.
The properties to be attached and auctioned include five-star hotel Amrapali Holiday Inn Tech Park in Greater Noida; a fast moving consumer goods company called Amrapali Biotech and Mums in Rajgir and Buxar districts of Bihar; malls in Gaya, Muzaffarpur and Bareilly; Hitech City movie hall in Meerut. and a precast factory in Greater Noida. Delhi Noida Ghaziabad Gurugram