In the Supertech Emerald Court twin tower demolition matter, the Supreme Court on Friday directed that payment of the amounts of refund as computed by the Amicus Curiae shall be made to the home buyers on or before February 28. Where home loans are outstanding, the developer shall clear the home loans on or before March 31 and furnish NOCs from the concerned financial institutions to the home buyers no later than April 10; and in respect of those home buyers who have entered into settlement with the developer, the settlement shall govern the rights and obligations of the respective parties.
The bench of Justices D. Y. Chandrachud and Surya Kant noted that 38 home buyers are before the court in several impleadment applications, and that the home buyers are seeking refund in terms of the final judgment and order of this court dated 31 August 2021 (by which the demolition was ordered).
"In order to obviate any dispute on the exact amount which is due and payable to the home buyers, the modalities which were followed are that, computations were prepared by the developer as well as by the home buyers. Amicus Curiae Gaurav Agarwal thereafter received emails with regard to the computation which has been made by the developer and the home buyers and has made an objective and earnest effort to resolve the differences by verifying the rival computations. A note has been prepared by the amicus after due verification of the amount that is due and payable, which is extracted below to obviate any disputes in the future (...).
The amicus submits- 1. the payments which are due to the home buyers should be paid over by the developer on or before 28 February 2022. 2. In those cases where home loans are outstanding, the developer shall take steps to clear the loans on or before 31 March 2022. 3. in the case of certain home buyers who have already settled their dues and received payments, the terms of the settlement should not be disturbed", recorded the bench in its order.
The bench further noted in its order that Senior Advocate S. Ganesh, for the developer, states that in order to put an end to the controversy, the developer accepts the computation made by the amicus as well as the submissions which are noted above.
The bench observedin its order, "On behalf of the home buyers, some of the counsel have submitted that notwithstanding the settlement, the payment should be re-computed in terms of the directions of this court. Having regard to the fact that several home buyers have arrived at settlements which are reflected in the note submitted by the amicus and have received payments pursuant to the settlement, it would be manifestly unfair to reopen the settlements"
"We have to observe some fairness to the developers also. If there are settlements, then how can we intervene in this? Why did you enter into the settlement? How can you now say that it was on account of coercion?", Justice Chandrachud had asked the advocate for the home-buyers claiming that the settlements were procured by Supertech under "coercion", that though the same were entered into after the August 31, 2021 judgment, the amounts had not been computed per the directions of the Court and that interest on ROI etc had been wrongfully deducted.
Justice Surya Kant also said, "There has to be some end to this controversy. Otherwise, it will never come to an end"
The bench directed as follows- "Hence, we accept the computation which has been submitted by the Amicus and direct that payment shall be made in terms of the three submissions of the amicus which have been noted earlier. In other words, 1.payment of the amounts computed in the statement extracted above shall be made to the home buyers on or before 20 February 2022; 2.where home loans are outstanding, the developer shall clear the home loans on or before 31 March 2022 and furnish NOCs from the concerned financial institution to the home buyers no later than 10 April 2022; In respect of those home buyers who have entered into settlement as noted in the note submitted by the amicus, the settlement shall govern the rights and obligations of the respective parties".
Earlier, the Court had warned Supertech Directors of jail if the amounts were not paid to the homebuyers. In August last year, the Court had directed the demolition of the twin towers in Noida for violation of the building rules and had directed refunds to the purchasers.
Case Title: Supertech Ltd. v. Emerald Court Owner Resident Welfare Association
