SC restricts movement of Amrapali directors

The Supreme Court on Thursday restricted the movement of three directors of real estate major, Amrapali group, till the documents of 46 companies were catalogued for examination by forensic auditors.

A bench of Justices U U Lalit and D Y Chandrachud asked the three Amrapali directors -- Anil Kumar Sharma, Shiv Priya and Ajay Kumar – to present themselves before SHO of Noida Sector 62 on Friday before 8 am.

The court directed the Noida police to take them to the sealed properties where the documents of the group's 46 companies will be catalogued.

The apex court also directed Noida SSP to take the three directors to hotel Park Ascent after 6 pm where their cellphones will be seized and they shall spend nights in the hotel for the next 15 days, instead of police lock up.

The top court said they will remain under police surveillance in the hotel.

It also said that the sealed properties of Amrapali group in Noida and Greater Noida will be open from 8 am to 6 pm for cataloguing of documents for next 15 days.

10 weeks time

The bench asked the two forensic auditors, Ravi Bhatia and Pawan Kumar Aggarwal, to complete auditing the balance sheet and affairs of 46 Amrapali group companies in ten weeks' time.

Earlier in the day, the group had informed the apex court that its nine properties in Noida, Greater Noida, Rajgir and Buxar in Bihar have been sealed in compliance with the court's order.

The directors were taken into police custody on October 9 and the firm was castigated for playing "hide and seek" with the court by not complying with its orders to hand over all documents to forensic auditors. The court had issued contempt notice against them.