Supreme Court asks Greater NOIDA to deposit Rs 66 crore with its registry to refund plot buyers

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday asked a local authority in Uttar Pradesh to deposit Rs 66.82 crore, received from realty firm Unitech Ltd, with its registry to refund those who have opted out of one of its housing schemes in the Greater Noida area. A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra, however, made it clear that the aggrieved persons, who had booked plots in the Uniworld City-Uni Homes Plots Sector-MU at Greater NOIDA of the project, could approach the consumer court for redressal of their grievances. The bench, which also comprised Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud, asked lawyer Pawan Shree Agrawal, assisting the court as an amicus curiae, to verify the names and other details of the plot applicants who wanted a refund. Earlier, the court had asked Agrawal to create a portal for registering the names of the buyers of homes or plots of the Unitech Ltd who wanted refund by opting out of the realty firm’s housing schemes. [caption id=“attachment_5086661” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AP[/caption] “In the meantime, Greater NOIDA shall deposit Rs 66.82 crore along with accrued interest inasmuch as the said amount belongs to the developer, before the Registry of this court. “Pawan Shree Agrawal shall verify the portal in respect of the present project, viz. Uniworld City-Uni Homes Plots Sector-MU, Greater NOIDA so that this court can direct for pro-rata disbursement of the said amount,” the bench said. The bench said that “as far as other grievances are concerned, the consumers can approach the concerned Consumer Courts and the dispute between the developer and the Greater NOIDA shall be addressed to in due course.” The court posted the batch of petitions including the one filed by Unitech Ltd and the plot buyers’ association for hearing on September 18. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the Unitech Ltd, said that 100 acre of land was allotted to the developer which was to deposit Rs 555 crore to the Greater Noida authority and as of now, Rs 325 crore, including the stamp duty, has been paid. He said that around Rs 67 crore of the plot buyers was with the Greater Noida Authority. Around 350 people had applied for the plots in the housing scheme – Uniworld City-Uni Homes Plots Sector-MU – at Greater NOIDA.