Supreme Court orders real estate company to refund flat aspirants

The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed real estate company Supertech to refund the money of flat aspirants who had invested in its 40-storey residential twin towers built in Noida, as the Allahabad High Court had ordered demolition of the towers in April last.  

The apex court ordered the refund by August 30.

A three-judge bench presided over by Chief Justice R M Lodha pointed out that since the high court had on April 11 found that the towers were raised in contravention of rules, the flat seekers, who wanted their money back, could not be left in the lurch.

“Shelter is the ultimate ambition of one’s life; so the flat seekers could not be allowed to remain in limbo. You cannot say no to them. It is your obligation to give flats with clear title but the high court directed you to demolish the buildings,” the bench said, directing the company to refund the money to those who wanted the sum instead of alternate flats.

Echoing concern of the flat seekers, the bench, also comprising Justices Kurian Joseph and R F Nariman, said, “They have not purchased litigation but flats. So you refund the money. Everything can’t be allowed to be flouted.”

The court told senior advocate Ravindra Shrivastava, representing the builder, “If you put yourself in the buyers’ shoes, it would not require a rethink on refund. It is a matter of survival for them.”
The bench expressed concern for the “hardships of people” and ordered the refund, particularly the principal amount sought by around 53 allottees, by August 30.

However, the court said it would not allow the company to collapse and gave it time till October 30 to pay the interest on principal amount.

With the high court’s order for demolition of the towers, as many as 53 allottees out of around 600 sought refund of the money deposited with the builders.  The towers named as ‘Apex’ and ‘Ceyane’ had 857 apartments. Of which about 600 flats were sold.