The apex court-appointed forensic auditors had told the bench that Amrapali Group had entered into "sham agreements" with Rhiti Sports Management Pvt Ltd (RSMPL) which promotes the brand of Dhoni, to "illegally divert" home buyers' money and a total amount of Rs 42.22 crore was paid to RSMPL during 2009-2015. Dhoni had moved to the Delhi high court which, on October 16, 2019, had appointed its former judge Veena Birbal as sole arbitrator to arbitrate the commercial dispute between the cricketer and the real estate firm.
The Supreme Court has dismissed the bail plea of jailed former CMD of Amrapali Group of Companies Anil Kumar Sharma, saying he doesn't deserve "sympathy" after having siphoned off the hard-earned money and life savings of thousands of homebuyers. "You have cheated thousands of homebuyers. You siphoned off their hard-earned money and their life savings. You do not deserve any sympathy," a bench comprising Justices Ajay Rastogi and Bela M Trivedi said, and refused to issue notice to the prosecuting agency on the bail plea of Sharma who has been in jail for over four years in the case. "Yours is not a case of simple cheating. See the plight of thousands of home buyers. You cannot have our sympathy. You better enjoy being in jail... This court is very aware of what you did.
The court also questioned how Amrapali Group could mortgage the entire projects and secure loan worth thousands of crores of rupees from banks when it was only an agent to develop the property.
The bench asked the group to submit within 15 days a valuation report of movable and immovable properties of its managing director and directors.
The Supreme Court on Monday said that it will constitute a fresh bench to hear the plea of home buyers seeking delivery of their homes booked with the Amprapali group. A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice J B Pardiwala was urged by a counsel for home buyers to set up a fresh bench as the matters pertaining to the Amrapali group were being heard by a bench headed by the then CJI U U Lalit, who demitted office on November 8. "I will constitute a bench," the CJI said. The plea was mentioned by lawyer M L Lahoty, appearing for home buyers.
A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and U U Lalit said, if home buyers are not ready to pay their outstanding amount, then the court will have to bundle up the projects.
In a good news for the hassled home buyers of Amrapali Group, the Supreme Court on Friday was informed that 11,858 flats will be delivered in 2 to 3 months of which 5, 428 units will be handed over the possession in October. A bench of Chief Justice UU Lalit and Justice Bela M Trivedi was informed by court receiver senior advocate R Venkataramani that in the upcoming festive season next month 5,428 flats which have been completed by the NBCC will be given to the home buyers with electricity and water connection. "We are facing some issues in providing electricity and water connections to the other 6,430 completed flats and once the connections are provided and they receive completion certificates, these units will be handed over to the home buyers in the next two to three months", he said.
On July 23, the apex court had cracked its whip on errant builders for breaching the trust reposed by homebuyers and ordered cancellation of the registration of Amrapali Group under the real estate law RERA, and ousted it from its prime properties in the NCR by nixing the land leases.
A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and U U Lalit also cancelled the leases of Amrapali's properties granted by the Noida and Greater Noida authorities and directed the Enforcement Directorate to investigate alleged money laundering by CMD Anil Sharma and other directors and senior officials of the group.
The expected time schedule for the completion of Amrapali projects is around four to five years considering volume of work as well as difficulties of the execution process.
Cut to 2019, and his name evokes grief and anger among more than 40,000 homebuyers who are fighting for the keys to their flats, which they should have rightfully got more than seven years back.
The SC bench directed the court-appointed forensic auditors to complete their detailed investigation on divergence of home buyers money by Amrapali group before March 22 and list the matter for hearing on March 24.
The CBI has filed an FIR against Amrapali Leisure Valley Developers Pvt Ltd, its director Anil Sharma and others for allegedly cheating Bank of Maharashtra and Andhra Bank of over Rs 230 crore, officials said on Friday. The banks had sanctioned credit facilities to develop a housing building at the Tech Zone IV in Uttar Pradesh's Greater Noida on a plot measuring 1.06 lakh square metre, the FIR alleged. The company failed to maintain financial discipline following which the account was declared a non-performing asset on March 31, 2017, the complaint from Bank of Maharashtra, now part of the FIR, has alleged, adding that "it has resulted in the loss of over Rs 230.97 crore". Following the FIR, the CBI Thursday conducted searches at four locations in Delhi, Noida and Ghaziabad, they said.
The three promoters - Anil Kumar Sharma, Ajay Kumar and Shiv Priya - had diverted Rs 1,500-1,600 crore through bogus methods like loans and advances between group firms at inflated rates.
The court said the conduct of the directors was in 'gross violation' of its order.
The bench also made it clear that only the court-appointed forensic auditors -- Ravi Bhatia and Pawan Kumar Aggarwal -- and persons authorised by them would enter these premises after they were sealed.
This follows an investigation into alleged violations of foreign exchange rules involving foreign direct investment of Rs 85 crore and Rs 140 crore by JP Morgan India and Amrapali Group firms.
Mumbai metropolitan region, comprising Mumbai city, Navi Mumbai and Thane, leads the pack (in delayed projects) with 210,000 units at an approximate valuation of Rs 2.34 trillion.
Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday announced a fresh Rs 15,000 crore 'SWAMIH Fund' for completion of 1 lakh units in stalled housing projects across various cities, a move aimed at providing relief to distressed homebuyers whose investments are stuck. In November 2019, the Centre announced a stress fund named 'Special Window for Affordable and Mid-Income Housing' (SWAMIH), to complete stalled housing projects across India.
'Amrapali didn't gave us villas they announced after 2011 WC win'
The NCR and the MMR together account for 77 per cent of 10 big housing projects stuck because of developers' bankruptcy or litigation.
Thousands of homeowners across housing projects owned by Jaypee Infratech and the Amrapali Group are running out of options. Jaypee Infratech and Amrapali are among the 12 big corporate loan defaulters against which the RBI has ordered initiation of insolvency proceedings.
India's limited-overs skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni has offered his support to Amrapali residents protesting in wake of the company's failure to complete the project, saying that promises made to the people should be met, irrespective of the problems being faced by the real estate group. The first phase of project 'Sapphire', launched in 2009, at Noida Sector 45 has been completed, but civil and electrical work in many towers is yet to be done. Amidst the chaos, Dhoni received outbursts among the Amrapali residents, who took to social media asking the skipper to disassociate himself as its brand ambassador. "At times you have situation where the expectation levels are not met. It is something that keeps on happening. So we will see what can be done. We will get in touch with Amrapali people and see what exactly is happening. If you see the economy rate, it is quite tough for the builders as of now. But at the same time, whatever is promised irrespective of where they stand, I think it needs to be met," Dhoni, who is the brand ambassador of Amrapali, told the media here.
Venturing into films, music & food biz, cite reasons from personal interest to future market opportunity
Experts say the move will make matters worse for buyers, reports Karan Choudhury.
N Sundaresha Subramanian, Karan Choudhury and Shreya Jai report on the sorry condition of homebuyers who invested in Jaypee Infratech and the Amrapali group's Noida-based projects.
The incident took place around 8.30 am at the under-construction site of Amrapali Dream Valley Society, the police said, adding that the long-stalled project is being completed by the state-run NBCC.
'In many parts of the country, the empty nest-and-empty-nest egg story is a painful boom-to-bust saga.' 'Among the old and young, it is hitting pockets hard, in a linked chain of debt-laden banks, corrupt politicians and builder mafias and disastrous government policies,' says Sunil Sethi.
Real estate developers are sitting on around 7.85 lakh unsold housing units across eight major cities and it will take them 32 months to clear these stocks at current sales velocity, according to PropTiger. However, in Delhi-NCR residential market -- which has been adversely impacted due to defaults of many big builders like Amrapali, Jaypee Infratech and Unitech -- it will take 62 months to sell over 1 lakh unsold housing units. Housing brokerage firm PropTiger.com data showed that unsold housing inventory has increased to 7,85,260 units as on September 30, 2022 from 763,650 unsold units at the end of previous quarter.
Traders have used this as an opportunity to stock up silver.
Realty firms and consultants hoped however that this would be the last round of monetary tightening by the central bank.
Self-proclaimed heir of Rani Rashmoni, lottery baron join businessmen in the list of MP-aspirants with assets worth over Rs 100 cr, reports Abhineet Kumar.
RBI on Wednesday surprised the markets by leaving key policy rates unchanged, notwithstanding persistent high inflationary pressure.
Silver is emerging as a stronger bet for the long-term.
Verdicts paving the way for construction of a Ram Temple at Ayodhya and India's multi-billion dollar Rafale fighter jet deal with France were 2019's landmark imprints of the Supreme Court, which also found itself at the centre of a controversy with then Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi being accused of sexual harassment before getting the clean chit.
Attractively low prices, rising demand and a favourable ratio to gold point to better days ahead for the white metal.
A decline in the real estate sector, rising debt and the company's alleged involvement in 2G scam caused damage to the business and its image.
The raids come as Rajasthan is witnessing an intense power tussle between chief minister Ashok Gehlot and his deputy Sachin Pilot.
The finance ministry is working on a second relief package for the Indian economy hit hard by the coronavirus outbreak and the 21-day nationwide lockdown imposed to curb the contagion, sources said. Last month, the government announced a Rs 1.70 lakh crore relief package in the form of foodgrains and cash transfers for the poor and vulnerable section of the society to help them deal with the hardships caused by the lockdown. Now, the government is working on a stimulus to be given to hard-hit sectors of the economy after the lockdown is lifted, sources said, adding that an announcement is expected in the next few days depending on the severity of the pandemic.
Property buyers fund the project cost and the entire debt and entire equity servicing, and yet, have no locus standi in the IBC process, points out Debashis Basu.