The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed the Enforcement Directorate and Delhi Police to submit details of cases against directors of ailing Unitech Ltd to ensure speedy trial and prevent inconvenience to homebuyers. According to reports from Business Standard and ETRealty, a bench comprising justices JB Pardiwala and KV Viswanathan stated that while law should take its own course, no further leeway should be given to the accused persons. The court emphasized that trial must commence and must not go for an indefinite period, with the bench remarking that they will create a special court to hear these cases exclusively. As per ETRealty, agencies are diligently tracing homebuyers' funds to ascertain their status, with the top court posting the matter for hearing on September 30.
During the hearing, the court inquired about the monies deposited by homebuyers and questioned where the money had gone. As reported by Business Standard and ETRealty, the bench stated that 'Where has the money gone? Has it travelled beyond the country? What is the role of the investigating agency? Law should be lucid. Confusion created by law is benefitting the accused'. The court noted that criminal prosecution against Unitech directors is in two parts - one set being investigated by the ED and another by Economic Offences Wing which has filed charge sheet in 63 different matters. It was contended that banks and financial institutions, which earlier sanctioned loans to homebuyers for purchasing units in Unitech projects, had stopped payments of the balance dues on account of projects not moving forward. Unitech further contended that now that the projects had been revived, directions be issued to the financial institutions for disbursal of loans of homebuyers.
The Supreme Court had earlier said its objective was to ensure that 22,000 homebuyers of Unitech Ltd get their dream homes and asked the new Centre-appointed board of the real estate group, banks and financial institutions to give suggestions for an amicable resolution of the long-pending dispute. According to Business Standard and ETRealty, around 22,000 homebuyers have been waiting for houses booked with Unitech for several years. The court had earlier issued notices to banks and financial institutions which had declared the loan accounts of homebuyers as non-performing assets due to projects' completion delays. On January 16 last year, the top court came to the rescue of thousands of homebuyers and facilitated disbursal of their stalled loans for flats constructed by Unitech by granting exemption from registration under the RERA for different housing projects located in seven states.
The forensic audit report revealed that Unitech under its erstwhile promoters Sanjay Chandra and Ajay Chandra had received around ₹14,270 crore from 29,800 homebuyers, mostly between 2006 and 2014, and around ₹1,805 crore from six financial institutions for the construction of 74 projects. As reported by Business Standard and ETRealty, the audit found that around ₹5,063 crore of homebuyers' money and around ₹763 crore of funds received from financial institutions were not utilised by the company. The report also indicated that high-value investments were made in tax-haven countries between 2007 and 2010. The apex court had earlier directed a forensic audit of Unitech Ltd and its sister concerns and subsidiaries by Samir Paranjpe, Partner, Forensic and Investigation Services in M/s Grant Thornton India in 2018.
The Supreme Court had earlier permitted the Centre-appointed board of directors of Unitech to seek police assistance to deal with 'impediments' created by third parties on properties of the embattled realty firm. According to Business Standard and ETRealty, the court had allowed the Ministry of Corporate Affairs to take 'total management control' of Unitech on January 20, 2020, permitting the board to raise funds due from homebuyers and sell unsold inventory. The matter has been posted for hearing on September 30, with the court warning it would take serious view of non-compliance of its orders by state authorities in matters related to the real estate group. In 2017, the Centre had moved the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) seeking suspension of the current directors and taking control of the management of Unitech Ltd but had later withdrawn the proposal after a stay on its move from the top court.
