Supreme Court directs Central government to submit Unitech completion plan

The court had earlier sought the assistance of the Attorney General on whether the government can take over the management of Unitech and its subsidiaries to protect the interest of homebuyers.
Rejecting a plea made by Unitech to allow it to complete these projects in the next three years, the court said the government should involve a third party like NBCC to complete them.
Rejecting a plea made by Unitech to allow it to complete these projects in the next three years, the court said the government should involve a third party like NBCC to complete them.

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has come to the relief of 16,000 hassled homebuyers of the fraud-hit Unitech Ltd., directing the Centre to come up with a proposal for the completion of its stalled projects within ten days.

“We can’t keep the homebuyers, who have approached us, in lurch. We want someone who can be held accountable. As the Attorney General has said we will wait for the government to come up with some kind of proposal for completing the pending projects,” a two-judge bench comprising Justices D Y Chandrachud and M R Shah said.

Rejecting a plea made by Unitech to allow it to complete these projects in the next three years, the court said the government should involve a third party like state-run construction firm NBCC to complete them.

“The homebuyers who are before us invested their money some 10-12 years back and now you are proposing another three years for completing the projects. Question is for how long do these homebuyers wait,” the bench said.

Taking a stern view of non-cooperation with forensic auditors on the part of Unitech, the bench granted two weeks’ time to the company to cooperate with the forensic auditors and provide them with all necessary details.

It also directed the forensic auditors to submit their reports in four weeks, posting the matter for further hearing on July 23.

On December 7, 2018, the apex court had directed a forensic audit of Unitech and its sister concerns and subsidiaries by Samir Paranjpe, Partner, Forensic and Investigation Services, Grant Thornton India.

However, the company’s non-cooperation irked the court, which has withdrawn all facilities given to its promoters, Sanjay Chandra and his brother Ajay Chandra, who are lodged in the Tihar jail for allegedly siphoning off homebuyers’ money.

The court had earlier sought the assistance of the Attorney General on whether the government can take over the management of Unitech and its subsidiaries to protect the interest of homebuyers.

Government report in four weeks

The Supreme Court bench hearing the case also directed the forensic auditors to submit their detailed report within four weeks, posting the matter for further hearing on July 23.

SC directs probe

On December 7, 2018, the Supreme Court had directed a forensic audit of Unitech and its sister concerns by Samir Paranjpe, Partner, Forensic & Investigation Services at Grant Thornton India.

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