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Rediff.com  » Business » How buyers brought Supertech builders to its knees
This article was first published 9 years ago

How buyers brought Supertech builders to its knees

April 18, 2014 10:49 IST


Photographs: Rupak De Chowdhury/Reuters Mansi Taneja

Those who paid to live in Supertech's project and not invest, say the money they get back with the HC order isn't enough to buy a new property.

Locating Supertech’s Emerald Court project, in an area with few landmarks and deserted roads, is easy.  

Its two towers, Apex and Ceyane, ordered by the Allahabad High Court to be demolished, stand out for their height.  

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How buyers brought Supertech builders to its knees


Photographs: Amit Dave/Reuters

The entry and exit of both towers (40 storeys each, though only 24 and 17, respectively, have been constructed), as well as the sales office of Emerald Court, were sealed by the Noida Authority on Tuesday.

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How buyers brought Supertech builders to its knees

Image: Labourers are silhouetted against the setting sun as they work at a construction site in Hyderabad.
Photographs: Krishnendu Halder/Reuters

About 100 metres away and a few minutes’ drive in a golf cart inside the Emerald Court complex, which houses the other 15 towers spread over 14 acres, is the Residents Welfare Association (RWA) office from where it started four years earlier.  

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How buyers brought Supertech builders to its knees


Photographs: Reuters

Vashisth Sharma, a pilot with Jet Airways, and S B S Teotia, a retired deputy inspector-general of police (CRPF), along with other officebearers at the RWA, were instrumental in fighting Supertech.  

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How buyers brought Supertech builders to its knees


Photographs: Reuters

The Association remains on its toes, filing caveats in the Supreme Court (SC) to make sure it is heard before any other verdict is given and before buyers of those new towers are made a party in the case.  

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How buyers brought Supertech builders to its knees


Photographs: Reuters

On the other side are about 700 harassed customers who bought flats in the new towers. 

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Tags: Supertech

How buyers brought Supertech builders to its knees


Photographs: Punit Paranjpe/Reuters

To make their concern public, around 50 of them got together on Wednesday at a restaurant-cum-bar in the happening Sector 18 market at Noida, meeting journalists.

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How buyers brought Supertech builders to its knees


Photographs: Punit Paranjpe/Reuters

On Tuesday, Supertech cancelled a scheduled press conference without giving a reason. While one set of buyers are not keen on a refund but insist on their flats, another lot are happy to get the money back. 

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Tags: Supertech

How buyers brought Supertech builders to its knees


Photographs: Vivek Prakash/Reuters

The HC order asked Supertech to refund money to the buyers with 14 per cent interest annually.

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Tags: Supertech , HC

How buyers brought Supertech builders to its knees


Photographs: Babu/Reuters

Possession of the flats has already been delayed by over a year. Those wanting their flats, rather than a refund, are planning to approach the SC to make them a party in the case.  

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How buyers brought Supertech builders to its knees


Photographs: Adnan Abidi/Reuters

The new towers have 857 flats against 700 in the older ones, thereby raising the issue of infrastructure sharing between more people than it was meant for.

Common infrastructure for 15 old towers and two new ones include a club, gym and swimming pool. The original project plan did not project such a scenario, noted the residents.  

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How buyers brought Supertech builders to its knees


Photographs: Anindito Mukherjee/Reuters

Sanjay Kumar Agarwal, a buyer in one of the new towers, says: ”We don’t want a refund. With the refunded money, we won’t be able to buy a new home.  

We had booked the flat in 2009; prices have gone much higher since then. We just want our flats.” However, those who bought for an investment are happy to dispose the disputed property and make a profit through the refund.

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How buyers brought Supertech builders to its knees

Image: Workers unload iron rods from a truck at a construction site on the outskirts of Ahmedabad.
Photographs: Amit Dave/Reuters

Supertech has decided to approach the apex court, challenging the order. Company's chairman RK Arora says the building was constructed after securing approvals from the Noida Authority. There is no word from the company on refunds yet.  

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How buyers brought Supertech builders to its knees


Photographs: Mukesh Gupta/Reuters

The judgement by the Allahabad High Court was passed while allowing the writ petition of "EmeraldCourt Owner Resident Welfare Association" wherein it was alleged that the approval and construction of the two towers was in complete violation of UP Apartment Acts.

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How buyers brought Supertech builders to its knees

Image: A farmer works in a wheat field against the backdrop of residential apartments undergoing construction in Noida.
Photographs: Reuters

The petitioner had claimed that the Noida Authority had given permission for raising the heights of the two towers, which were earlier supposed to have only 24 floors, "without maintaining the mandatory distance of 16 metres) from an adjoining building block, making it "unsafe, apart from blocking air and light". 

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How buyers brought Supertech builders to its knees


Photographs: Amit Dave/Reuters

After the Floor Area Ratio (FAR) was increased by Noida Authority, Supertech had applied for permissions to add more floors to the new towers.

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How buyers brought Supertech builders to its knees


Photographs: Reuters

Realty logjam  

The Allahabad HC asked Supertech to refund money to buyers with 14 per cent interest annually.  

Possession of the flats has already been delayed by over a year.

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Source: source