The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice to National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC India Limited) regarding its challenge to the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal's (NCLAT) refusal to relax statutory requirements under the Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act (RERA). According to reports from Business Standard, Attorney General R Venkatramani, appearing for NBCC, stated that the issue pertains to the grant of exemption from compliance of provisions of RERA, 2016. A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, along with Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice V Mohana, sought a response on NBCC's plea and listed the matter for hearing on September 24. The dispute relates to NBCC's assignment to complete 16 stalled projects of debt-ridden Supertech Ltd, for which the state-owned construction company had sought exemptions from certain RERA obligations.
Among the relaxations sought by NBCC were exemptions from the requirement to maintain a separate bank account and deposit 70 per cent of amounts collected from homebuyers into that account. As reported by Business Standard, NBCC had also sought relief from requirements concerning approvals from allottees and the need to obtain their prior consent before transferring or assigning a majority of the promoter's rights and liabilities. The NCLAT, in its May 22 order, declined to grant these exemptions, holding that it lacked jurisdiction to waive statutory requirements under RERA, noting that appropriate directions had already been issued to process necessary approvals within a specified timeframe. The NBCC had moved the NCLAT pursuant to the liberty granted by the top court on February 5 for raising any issue with regard to terms and conditions imposed by the tribunal.
The NCLAT had directed the NBCC to 'start the process of award of work before March 31, 2025' and ensure the awarding of the contract within a month thereafter, with construction work for the 16 projects to start from May 1, 2025. According to Business Standard, the NCLAT had ordered the 'constitution of an apex court committee and project-wise court committee' for each project, with NBCC asked to nominate a member to each project-wise court committee. The NBCC had proposed to complete the 16 projects in three phases: Phase 1 comprising Eco Village-2 (Greater Noida), Romano (Noida), Capetown (Noida), Czar suites (Greater Noida), Eco Village-3 (Greater Noida), Sports Village (Greater Noida) and Eco-citi (Noida); Phase 2 including Northeye (Noida), Upcountry (Yamuna Expressway), Eco Village-1 (Greater Noida), Meerut Sports City (Meerut) and Green Village (Meerut); and Phase 3 covering Hilltown (Gurugram), Aravile (Gurugram), Rivercrest (Rudrapur), Doon Square (Dehradun) and Micasa (Bengaluru).
The matter arises from NBCC's application seeking modification and clarification of the NCLAT's December 12, 2024 order relating to the completion of 16 Supertech projects. According to Business Standard, Supertech was admitted into the insolvency process on March 25, 2022, following an application filed by Union Bank of India under Section 7 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code. The Union Bank of India had initiated insolvency proceedings against Supertech under section 7 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code on March 20, 2021, claiming more than ₹431 crore as on January 31, 2021, along with the accrued interest. The Supreme Court had on April 20 emphasised the urgency arising from the prolonged delay in completion of the developments, with the court using its extraordinary power under Article 142 of the Constitution to uphold the December 12, 2024 order of the NCLAT asking the NBCC to take over the projects in the interest of homebuyers.
The proceedings follow the Supreme Court's February 5 judgment upholding the NCLAT's decision to entrust the 16 stalled Supertech projects to NBCC under a court-monitored mechanism. As reported by Business Standard, the arrangement is aimed at completing projects and protecting the interests of homebuyers who have been waiting for possession for years. The Supreme Court had restrained all the tribunals and high courts from passing any order that may lead to the stalling of the construction work to be completed by the NBCC. Around 27,000 homebuyers await receiving houses in these projects, with the NCLAT judgment coming after the October 1, 2014 order of the top court that allowed the insolvency appellate tribunal to examine and decide a proposal of the NBCC seeking to complete the stalled projects.
