Will protect interest of home buyers in Supertech's twin towers, assures Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday said it will protect the interest of home buyers in Supertech's 40-storey twin towers against the backdrop of the appointment of Interim Resolution Professional (IRP) in the insolvency proceedings against the real estate firm.

The top court also sought response from the IRP on the disbursal of home buyers' claims.

According to a note filed by advocate Gaurav Agarwal, amicus curiae in the matter, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), New Delhi, has passed an order on March 25, 2022, by which corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP) has been initiated against Supertech Ltd, a moratorium, under Section 14 of IB Code, 2016 declared, and also IRP, Hitesh Goel, has been appointed.

Agarwal urged a bench comprising Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and Surya Kant to consider whether payments to be made to the remaining home buyers of the twin towers should form part of the resolution process or whether the payments should be made by the company from the funds available (or which may become available in future) i.e. the said payments be kept out of the CIRP process?

Secondly, in case the payments are part of the CIRP process, will the amounts due to the home buyers be included as a separate category in the proposed resolution plans so that home buyers get the refund with interest from the successful resolution applicant?

The bench said it will protect the interest of home buyers in the Supertech's twin towers in Noida. It added that home buyers should file their claims with the IRP and sought response from the IRP on the disbursal of their claims.

The note submitted by Agarwal said: "As per the information given by Supertech Ltd, out of 711 customers/units, the claims of 652 units/customers are settled/paid. 59 home buyers still have to be refunded the amounts. The principal outstanding would be Rs 14.96 crore."

The amicus suggested the home buyers of the twin towers may be directed to file their claims to the IRP by April 15 and all claims should be collated, the interest due be calculated, and a report should be given to the apex court by April 30.

"The IRP may also indicate in the said report whether the amount available with the company (or which can be reasonably made available in the near future from running operations of the company) would be sufficient to meet the said claims," added the note.

Supertech also informed the apex court that it is approaching appellate tribunal against the NCLT order on insolvency proceedings against it.

The top court is likely to take up the case for further hearing in the first week of May.

In its August 31, 2021 judgment, the Supreme Court had ordered the demolition of Supertech's twin towers in Noida and also directed the firm to refund the money to the flat purchasers in these towers.

The Noida authority had informed the court that Supertech 40-story twin towers will be demolished on May 22.