Next step is jail: SC gives Parsvnath Developers final week to pay homebuyers
The Supreme Court on Monday gave Parsvnath Developers one week, as a final opportunity, to comply with orders passed in favour of homebuyers in Gurugram
The Supreme Court on Monday gave Parsvnath Developers one week, as a final opportunity, to comply with orders passed in favour of homebuyers in Gurugram by depositing the entire recoverable amount with 12 per cent annual interest with the court registry. The court said failure to do so would lead to imprisonment. A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana made strong remarks against the real estate firm and its directors while hearing a petition by homebuyers Rita Tikku, a cancer survivor, and Lokaish Tikku, who said they had invested their life savings in the Parsvnath Exotica project in Gurugram. Read Full Story The bench said, "The whole country has been duped by them. If you (real estate firm and its directors) do not comply with the orders within a week, they will be sent to jail. They are making a mockery of the system." It added, "The same thing that happened to the Unitech (directors) will happen to them (Parsvnath Developers). The entire system has been hijacked." The court noted that the Haryana government had filed the status report sought earlier. It said, "The Haryana government states that a compliance affidavit has been filed. However, the same was filed last evening and not tagged with the paper books.
Let it be done immediately." The bench also recorded that the respondent builder and its officials had entered appearance. Directing the builder to explain its failure to follow Haryana Real Estate Regulatory Authority orders, the bench said, "Before the execution of non-bailable warrants, which is already issued, we grant the last opportunity to the builders to deposit the entire recoverable amount along with interest of 12 per cent per annum with the Supreme Court registry. Let it be deposited within a week. Post this case next Monday." The matter was then adjourned to July 27. The bench said that under an earlier order, "Everything will continue to remain frozen." It did not accept the submission that other homebuyers were living in the same building where the petitioners had booked their home. "No plan. Deposit and then talk. We are under Article 142 (of the Constitution), we are not concerned with IBC (proceedings), insolvency etc Let there be no misunderstanding about our order. The next step is jail. That is all," the Chief Justice said. Article 142 of the Constitution gives the Supreme Court the power to pass any decree or order necessary for doing complete justice in a pending matter. On July 13, the court had frozen the bank accounts of the real estate firm and its directors and issued bailable warrants against the company leadership after noting the 20-year struggle of senior citizens to secure possession of their homes.
The BriefWire