Bikram chatterjee & Ors v. Union of India & Ors.

In the present case, a bench of Justices Arun Mishra and U.U. Lalit cancelled the registration of Amrapali group under Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016. It was found that Amrapali group had siphoned off money of homebuyers in collusion with the authorities of Noida and Greater Noida.The Enforcement Directorate (ED) was directed by the top court to take actions against the authorities and directors of Amrapali group under Foreign Exchange Management Act and Prevention of Money Laundering Act. The court also directed ED to update it with the progress of the probe by delivering reports to the court at regular intervals.

The National Building Construction Corporation (NBCC) was handed over the responsibility to finish the halted projects of the Amrapali group. Its commission was fixed at 8 percent. The homebuyers need to deposit the rest of the amount in an escrow account.The court had ordered that the banks and financial institutions would recover their dues from the assets of the Amrapali group barring the project properties. Such an order was made in order to protect the interests of the homebuyers.The appointment of Senior Advocate R. Venkataramani was being made as a court receiver with respect to the project properties.The apex court was intimated by the Greater Noida Authority that it had received only Rs. 363 crores from Amrapali Group out of the outstanding dues of Rs. 3,400 crores. The Authority stated that it had five projects of the group under its jurisdiction. Out of which, the four lands were vacant and without any construction.The authorities of Noida and Greater Noida had submitted before the court that they lacked the resources and expertise to complete the projects. Thereafter, the top court reserved its verdict on May 10, 2019. The court was being requested by the authorities to hand over the project to a reputed builder under the supervision of a high-powered committee constituted by the court.

Amrapali Group’s Chairman and Managing Director Anil Sharma and two other directors, Shiv Priya and Ajay Kumar were arrested by the Delhi Police in March, 2019 after being permitted by the Supreme Court. All of them had been kept in the police custody of Uttar Pradesh Police since October, 2018 and they were being housed in a hotel of Noida on the directions of the Supreme Court. There were accusations against them for non-cooperation with the forensic auditors who were examining financial transactions by the company and its directors. Thereafter, the court had instructed them to be kept under police surveillance in a hotel until the investigation against the company gets completed.