agencies
The Supreme Court on Thursday permitted the auction of three properties belonging to Real estate giant, Unitech Ltd in Agra, Varanasi and Sriperumbudur to reimburse the claims of those who had booked homes with the troubled real estate developer.
The auction of these properties, which are together worth an estimated Rs 600 crore, would take place under the aegis of a committee, constituted by a three-judge bench of the apex court comprising Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and justices A.M. Khanwilkar and D.Y. Chandrachud. The committee, which was constituted in May, is headed by former Delhi high court judge, S.N. Dhingra.
Unitech was also directed to submit a list of all properties belonging to its subsidiaries, as well as the personal properties of its directors.
During the hearing, additional solicitor general Pinky Anand informed the court that Unitech also owes Rs 955 crore to the Central Board of Direct Taxes.
In April, the court had directed the amicus curiae (friend of the court), Pawan Shree Agrawal, to issue a public notice in all leading newspapers, seeking objections, if any, to the sale of Unitech’s land parcels across the country, after saying that it would consider auctioning the company’s unencumbered properties to raise money to refund homebuyers. Unitech was asked to furnish a complete list of its unencumbered assets in India and abroad.
In October last year, Unitech had expressed willingness to monetize its unencumbered properties and other assets to recover money to refund buyers and complete projects that are stuck.
The real estate firm was required to deposit Rs 750 crore by December to secure bail for its managing director, Sanjay Chandra, who is in jail in a case of alleged forgery lodged by buyers of a Unitech housing project in Gurugram. It has deposited ₹18 crore till now.