SC rejects Unitech MD’s bail yet again

Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, September 21

The Supreme Court today asked Unitech flat buyers to spell out if they wanted their dream home or refund of their hard-earned money even as it turned down interim bail plea of its managing director Sanjay Chandra yet again.

A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra said that it had to strike a balance between one person’s bail and tears of 16,299 flat buyers. “When you (Chandra) will care for the tears of these people, who are your people, your buyers, you will be a free bird,” the Bench, which had rejected his bail plea on September 8 and 15, said.

The Bench asked the homebuyers to submit their option to amicus curiae Pawan Shree Agrawal by October 23 and fixed October 30 for further hearing.

Unitech will have to either give possession of flats to the buyers or pay back their money, otherwise its properties would be auctioned to pay the investors, it said.

The direction came after the amicus curiae told the Bench that the flats had been handed over to buyers in only 13 out of the 74 projects and 16,300 buyers in the remaining 61 projects were still waiting for it.

He said the worth of 16,300 flats would be around Rs 7,816 crore.

On behalf of Chandra, senior advocate Salman Khurshid said the accused would reach a settlement with each of the homebuyers provided he was released from jail for six months.

As Khurshid argued keeping Chandra in jail violated all principles of bail jurisprudence, the Bench said it had to strike a balance between one person’s bail and tears of thousands of homebuyers. Once all flat buyers either got their house or refund, Chandra will be released, it added.

Earlier Agrawal told the Bench that he had created a portal where the homebuyers could upload their details to claim flats or refund from the company.

The Bench clarified that buyers who had been handed over possession of flats in the 13 projects should not upload their details on the portal that would be operational on Friday.

Sanjay Chandra and his brother Ajay Chandra had moved the apex court against the August 11 order of the Delhi High Court refusing to grant interim bail to them and asked them to file a status report.

Five buyers of the Unitech’s Anthea Floors Wildflower Country project led by some Delhi residents had filed a complaint for registration of FIR against the company in 2015. 

Later, 90 more complaints were lodged against the company for the same project. These 90 complaints were clubbed with the FIR.