NEW DELHI: On Monday, the Supreme Court urged the NCLAT to swiftly decide on the amalgamation of 14 remaining housing projects of the financially troubled real estate firm Supertech within a court-supervised framework, aiming to expedite completion and alleviate the concerns of homebuyers.
Earlier, on February 5, the Supreme Court upheld an NCLAT order directing the State-owned NBCC to complete 16 out of 30 housing projects of Supertech Limited. The NCLAT is set to re-examine the issue on April 24.
A bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi took note of the worries expressed by homebuyers regarding the uncertainty surrounding the completion of several stalled projects still managed by the struggling company, unlike the 16 projects transferred to the PSU NBCC.
The Chief Justice requested the NCLAT to urgently review the pleas and include all relevant parties, including land-owning authorities such as Greater NOIDA and local farmers.
The court’s intervention was spurred by the suspension of Supertech Ltd’s insolvency resolution professional due to alleged misconduct.
Previously, the bench had indicated that the issues concerning the remaining projects should also be handled within the same court-monitored framework.
“Hence, the strategy for all projects—whether completed, partially, or unsuccessfully completed—should be consolidated by a common authority established by this Court,” it stated.
The bench has now instructed the NCLAT to determine if the remaining projects can also be transferred to another agency for completion under the judicial oversight.
The bench previously supported thousands of distressed homebuyers awaiting their homes for nearly two decades by upholding an NCLAT order directing the NBCC to finalize 16 projects.
It also barred all tribunals and high courts from issuing orders that could hinder the construction efforts led by the National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC).
Exercising its extraordinary powers under Article 142 of the Constitution, the Supreme Court confirmed the December 12, 2024 NCLAT order that instructed the NBCC to manage the projects in the best interest of homebuyers.
The bench acknowledged that, according to numerous homebuyers, Supertech had sold around 51,000 homes for delivery between 2010 and 2012.
It directed the NBCC to expedite the completion of these projects, as proposed by an expert committee appointed by the NCLAT.
The NCLAT had tasked the NBCC, a public sector enterprise under the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, with completing 16 housing projects consisting of 49,748 homes located in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana, and Karnataka.
Currently, around 27,000 homebuyers are awaiting their houses in these projects.
This NCLAT verdict followed a Supreme Court ruling on October 1, 2014, which allowed the insolvency appellate tribunal to review and decide on a proposal from the NBCC to complete the stalled projects.
The NCLAT mandated the NBCC to “initiate the work assignment process before March 31, 2025,” ensuring contracts are awarded within a month thereafter, with construction commencing on May 1, 2025.
It ordered the establishment of both an apex court committee and project-specific court committees for each project.
The NBCC was instructed to designate a member to each project-specific committee.
Initially aiming to complete projects launched in the National Capital Region (NCR), Dehradun, and Bengaluru, the realization of residential units was impeded by a financial crisis faced by Supertech, which led to insolvency proceedings beginning in 2021.
The NBCC has presented the terms for managing Supertech’s pending projects to the NCLAT, proposing a phased approach for completing the 16 projects.
For Phase 1, it aims to finish Eco-Village-2 (Greater Noida), Romano (Noida), Capetown (Noida), Czar Suites (Greater Noida), Eco-village-3 (Greater Noida), Sports Village (Greater Noida), and Eco-citi (Noida).
In Phase 2, the NBCC plans to address Northeye (Noida), Upcountry (Yamuna Expressway), Eco-village-1 (Greater Noida), Meerut Sports City (Meerut), and Green Village (Meerut).
For Phase 3, the projects include Hilltown (Gurugram), Aravile (Gurugram), Rivercrest (Rudrapur), Doon Square (Dehradun), and Micasa (Bengaluru).
The Union Bank of India initiated insolvency proceedings against Supertech under Section 7 of the IBC on March 20, 2021, claiming over Rs 431 crore by January 31, 2021, along with accrued interest.
