SC refuses to reopen settlement of home buyers and Supertech on refund

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Friday refused to reopen the settlement reached between
home buyers of the to-be razed twin-towers of the Emerald Court project and realty
major Supertech Ltd on the refund, saying it has to be fair to the developer too.
A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and Surya Kant directed Supertech to make the
payments to the home buyers of the amount, computed by the amicus curiae Gaurav Aggarwal,
on or before February 28.
It said that in cases where home loans are outstanding, the developer shall clear the home
loans on or before March 31 and furnish NOCs from the concerned financial institutions to the
home buyers, no later than within a period of April 10, 2022.

“In respect to those home buyers, who have entered into settlement as noted in the note
submitted by the amicus curiae, the settlement shall govern the rights and obligations of the
respected parties,” the bench said.
The bench said it accepts the computation which has been submitted by the amicus curiae and
directed that the payments be made in terms of his submissions.
“Having regard to the fact that several home buyers have arrived at a settlement which are
reflected in the note submitted by the amicus curiae and have received payment pursuant to the
settlement, it would be manifestly unfair to reopen the settlement,” the bench said.
At the outset, senior advocate S Ganesh, appearing for Supertech, said that 38 flat buyers have
sought refund of principal amount paid by them together with interest; what they have done to
resolve this problem is that they have sat with the amicus and worked out all the calculations of
figures to the satisfaction of the amicus and to which the developer is also agreeable.
“So the amount agreed will be paid to them (home buyers). Impleadment applications filed by 38
flat owners. This statement can be recorded. The amounts shall be paid on or before February
28, which was the time given to us”, he said.
Advocate Gaurav Aggarwal said the home buyers have some issues and they say it was not
computed correctly but no one has pointed out any errors to the amount computed.
The bench said that it has noticed in the note of amicus that some cases of home buyers have
been settled.
Aggarwal said, “Yes. The home buyers, however, have filed applications saying it was not
settled properly. They were under coercion. They will get lesser amounts than what others have
got but I believe that home buyers will have to assist on the issue”.
The bench said, “We must be fair to everybody. We must be fair also to the developer. They
(home buyers) have settled with them (Supertech). You (home buyers) cannot now say that it
was under coercion”.
A counsel appearing for the home buyers who have reached the settlement said that it has been
made after the order of this court on August 31, 2021 and the builder has given an
understanding that the interest will be charged on Return on Investment (ROI) and they have
deducted that interest.
“So it is very unfair on the part of the builder”, he said.
The bench said, “Then, why did you settle with them? Many homebuyers in the past also,
whoever has settled, we said that’s ok. Fine. We can’t say now that those settlements were
under coercion or you were pressured to settle. You shouldn’t have settled.”
The counsel said the settlement was refuted immediately even before receiving any amount and
it’s on record.
“I have the right accrued from this court’s judgement that benefits will not be deprived of me. I
have been given 20-25 lakh less by the developer”, he said.
Ganesh refuted the submission and said that he does not think that this statement is factually
correct and the developer has even paid the amount as per the settlement.
Justice Surya Kant said, “I think now that they have accepted it. There should be an end to all
this controversy. Amicus is also satisfied with the fairness of the treatment of the compromise
between the parties and this should be the end of the matter. Otherwise there will be no end to
it.”
It said the issue of demolition of twin-towers will be taken on February 7.
On January 17, the top court had directed Supertech to execute a contract within a week with a
Mumbai-based company to demolish its twin 40-storey towers in its Emerald Court project
in Noida, which have been found illegal for being in violation of building norms.
The NOIDA authority informed the bench that it has finalised the company Edifice Engineering
for demolishing the twin towers in consultation with the Central Building Research Institute
(CBRI) Roorkee.
The top court had on August 31, last year ordered the demolition of the firm’s twin 40-storey
towers, which were under construction, within three months for violation of building norms in
“collusion” with NOIDA officials, holding that illegal construction has to be dealt with strictly to
ensure compliance with the rule of law.
The top court had directed that the entire amount of home buyers be refunded with 12 percent
interest from the time of the booking and the RWA of Emerald Court project be paid Rs 2 crore
for the harassment caused due to the construction of the twin towers, which would have blocked
sunlight and fresh air to the existing residents of the housing project.