NEW DELHI: In a relief for over 20,000 homebuyers who have been waiting for possession of their homes spread across Noida and Greater Noida for over a decade, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on Tuesday approved Mumbai-based Suraksha Group’s bid to buy Jaypee Infratech (JIL), nearly six years after the firm entered the insolvency process.
The NCLT dismissed the objections raised by Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority and ICICI Bank and reserved its order on Suraksha’s bid to acquire JIL in November 2022. The fresh ruling comes nearly two years after the Committee of Creditors (CoC), which includes banks and homebuyers, gave its nod to Suraksha Group’s offer over state-owned NBCC.
A two-member Principal bench of NCLT headed by President Ramalingam Sudhkar approved the resolution plan and said a monitoring panel will be set up by the applicant Interim Resolution Professional (IRP) in seven days that would take all necessary steps for expeditious implementation of the resolution plan.
The successful resolution applicant should deliver the units for possession by the homebuyers as per the time frame promised in the resolution plan, the bench said. JIL homebuyers described NCLT’s order as a “real Holi gift” and hoped Suraksha will deliver the flats as per the proposed timeline.
JIL was among the first list of 12 firms against whom the RBI had directed the banks to approach NCLT for initiation of insolvency proceedings. While the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) mandates a Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) to be completed within a limited time frame, JIL was an exceptional case that faced several rounds of litigations. Suraksha had offered to bankers over 2,500 acres of land and nearly Rs 1,300 crore by way of issuing non-convertible debentures. It has proposed to complete pending flats over next four years.
On NCLT order, it said, “The SRA (successful resolution applicant) shall deliver/provide possession of the units to the homebuyers/allottees as per the time frame promised in the resolution plan and approved by this Authority. The Monitoring Committee will supervise and monitor the progress of construction of units and related infrastructure developments on a day-to-day basis and file the progress report before this Adjudicating Authority on monthly basis.
The order noted the Interim Resolution Professional, Anuj Jain, shall stand discharged from his duties immediately after constituting the Monitoring Committee(s) as provided in the Resolution Plan.