Supertech to clear loans of buyers by March 31: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Friday directed real estate firm Supertech to clear all outstanding bank loans of homebuyers who had invested in the “illegal” twin towers of its Noida project Emerald Court by March 31. The court had ordered the project to be demolished in August last year. Nearly 252 homebuyers were to be refunded the amount according to the judgment.

On January 21, the court had directed Supertech to refund the principal amount with 12% interest to the homebuyers by February 28. However, with the process of demolition still underway, the court had to decide the modalities for refund as the developer and homebuyers submitted different amounts.

The court-appointed amicus curiae and advocate Gaurav Agrawal prepared a calculation that was accepted by the court and made part of its order. A bench comprising justices Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud and Surya Kant directed Supertech to also pay the outstanding bank loans of homebuyers by March 31 and provide them with the no-objection certificate (NOC) from the bank concerned by April 10. This was in addition to the court’s earlier order asking Supertech to refund the amounts paid, as calculated by amicus, by February 28.

Several homebuyers who settled with Supertech prior to the Supreme Court judgment and received their payments also approached the court on Friday, saying they were entitled to a higher amount according to the court order. However, the bench refused to entertain their application.

It said, “You took the benefit of settlement without waiting for the judgment. These settlements have been paid out. We have to observe some amount of fairness to the developer also. We cannot say now that the settlement was made under coercion.”

The two towers to be demolished (Apex and Ceyane) comprise 915 flats, of which 633 were booked. However, only 252 flat buyers decided to await the final decision of the top court. Nearly 248 took an early refund and 133 homebuyers re-invested in other Supertech projects.

The order to demolish the two Supertech towers was first issued by the Allahabad high court in 2014 based on a plea filed by the Emerald Court owners’ association, which said that during the purchase of flats, what was shown to prospective buyers as green area was later converted into residential towers, amounting to breach of trust by the developer. Supertech had approached the apex court challenging the high court decision.

The court is also monitoring the demolition of the two towers. The Noida authority has consented to demolition and dismantling firm Edifice Engineering carrying out the demolition. According to authorities, the 40-storey towers will require scientific planning and evacuation as they need to be brought down through multiple implosions. The court will consider the progress of the twin towers’ demolition on Monday.