Deposit Rs 125 crore by Jan 25 or face contempt: Supreme Court to Jaypee Group

The Supreme Court has extended the deadline for realty major Jaypee Group till January 25 to deposit Rs 125 crore in pursuance of a direction aimed at protecting the interests of hassled home buyers.

The court also warned Jaiprakash Associates Limited (JAL), the holding company, that non-compliance of its order would make it liable for contempt of court.

Jaiprakash Associate Limited had on Thursday deposited Rs 150 crore in the Supreme Court registry and sought extension of time to deposit remaining Rs 125 crore.

The court hd on November 22 accepted a demand draft of Rs 275 crore submitted by the real estate firm and directed it to pay another two tranches of Rs 150 crore and Rs 125 crore respectively by December 14 and 31.

Earlier, the court had directed 13 directors of JAL not to alienate their personal properties.

The top court had also made it clear that it was granting "indulgence" to allow the firm to deposit Rs 2,000 crore in instalments as the interest of homebuyers was "paramount".

The JAL directors had filed affidavits giving details of their personal assets and they are now required to appear again on January 10.

The apex court, on November 13, had also restrained the managing director and the directors of Jaypee Infratech Ltd from travelling abroad without prior permission.

The court had asked Jaypee Infratech to hand over the records to the interim resolution professional (IRP) to draft a resolution plan indicating protection of interests of over 32,000 hassled home buyers and creditors.

It had also stayed any proceedings instituted against Jaypee Infratech for any purpose in any forum like the consumer commission, as the IRP has been given control of the company's management.

Homebuyers including one Chitra Sharma, through lawyer Ashwarya Sinha, had moved the apex court saying around 32,000 people had booked their flats and are now paying installments.

The top court had on September 4 stayed insolvency proceedings against the real estate firm at National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).

Flat buyers, under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code of 2016, do not fall in the category of secured creditors like banks and hence they can get back their money only if something is left after repaying the secured and operational creditors, Sharma, in her plea, said.

Hundreds of home buyers have been left in the lurch after the NCLT, on August 10, admitted the IDBI Bank's plea to initiate insolvency proceedings against the debt-ridden realty company for defaulting on a Rs 526 crore loan, the plea said.