The Supreme Court on November 22 directed NCLT to complete the Jaypee Infratech insolvency proceedings within two months.
The order was passed by a two-judge bench of Justice AM Khanwilkar and Justice CT Ravikumar that was hearing a petition filed by homebuyers in the Jaypee Kensington Boulevard project.
Lawyer Shashank Manish argued on behalf of homebuyers that repeated delays in the insolvency process are adversely affecting their rights.
The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) on September 28 had decided to hear the pleas for the approval of the Suraksha Group's bid to acquire embattled real estate firm Jaypee Infratech but hearing before the NCLT had been deferred several times following which the homebuyers brought the matter to the notice of the SC.
The buyers had submitted that the NCLT is acting in a casual manner and that the "already existing structures of the unfinished towers are getting weakened and losing structural integrity owing to the weather conditions." They had said that they feared that the condition of existing structures will only "deteriorate with the passage of time".
In June this year, financial creditors of Jaypee Infratech Ltd (JIL) picked Mumbai-based Suraksha Group over state-owned NBCC for taking over the insolvent firm and completing 20,000 homes. After the CoC's approval, the Suraksha Group's offer had to be cleared by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).
Jaypee Infratech’s Interim Resolution Professional (IRP) Anuj Jain had filed Mumbai-based Suraksha Group’s resolution before the National Company Law Tribunal on July 8.
Under its plan, Suraksha ARC has proposed to infuse Rs 125-crore worth equity into Jaypee Infratech. It also said that it will avail Rs 3,000 crore in loans to complete construction of the residential units which have been pending for over a decade. It plans to finish construction work within 42 months after taking over Jaypee Infratech.
Suraksha Group has also promised to immediately infuse Rs 300 crore if its bid was approved by the CoC to ensure construction is not hampered while awaiting the NCLT’s approval of the resolution plan.
On March 24, 2021, the Supreme Court had remanded the Jaypee Infratech case back to NCLT for fresh voting, and extended the timeline for completion of the corporate insolvency process by 45 days.
JIL went into the insolvency process in August 2017 after the NCLT admitted an application by an IDBI Bank-led consortium.
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