AMN
The Supreme Court has said that it will consider granting bail to Unitech Ltd Managing Director Sanjay Chandra after the embattled real estate firm deposits 750 crore rupees by December end.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra said, the money, to be deposited in the apex court registry, will be used in facilitating refund to the home buyers who want their money back.
The bench, also comprising justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud, asked the authorities of Tihar jail, where Chandra is presently lodged, to facilitate his meeting with his company officials, financiers and lawyers so that he could arrange the money for refunding the home buyers as well as for completing the ongoing housing projects.
Advocate Pawan Shree Aggarwal, assisting the court as an amicus curiae in the matter, told the bench that the real estate firm needed around 2,000 crore rupees to refund money to home buyers as well as completing the ongoing projects. Chandra’s counsel told the court that they have given a plan for a refund of money and completion of projects and they needed some time to do it.
The apex court has fixed the matter for hearing in the second week of January and granted liberty to Chandra to mention the matter for grant of bail after depositing 750 crore rupees in the apex court Registry.
Chandra is seeking interim bail from the apex court after the Delhi High Court on August 11 had rejected the plea in a criminal case lodged in 2015 by 158 home buyers of Unitech projects.