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A Supreme Court bench of Justices Chandrachud and Surya Kant today put an end to a dispute pertaining to refund of payments made by home buyers to Supertech in the Emerald Court Twin Tower demolition case in terms of the court's order dated 31st August 2021. The court accepted the note circulated by amicus curiae, Gaurav Aggarwal and made it clear that that terms of the settlement will not be disputed now.

The court noted that 38 home buyers are before the court in impleadment application and that  they are seeking refund in terms of order of court in 31st August, in order to obviate any disputes the modalities which were followed were computation were prepared by home buyers and Supertech. The court noted that the amicus curiae has received emails with respect to computation of the amounts to be refunded and has made an objective effort in this regard. The court further noted that the amicus’ note has been prepared by after due verification of amounts due and payable. The court noted that

1. Payments due to the home buyers should be paid by developers on or  before 28th Feb, 2021;
2. In cases where home loans are outstanding  the developers shall clear loans by 31st March;
3. In case of home buyers who have received payments, terms should not be disturbed        

Ganesh, Senior Advocate, appearing for Supertech submitted that that developer accepts the computation.  The court noted that some home buyers state that payment should be recomputed, however, having regard to the fact that several home buyers have arrived at the settlement already, it would be unfair to reopen the settlement. The court hence accepted the  the computation of amicus and direct that payments should be made as per the terms laid down.

On August 31, 2021, the Supreme Court had upheld a 2014 order of Allahabad High Court which had directed for the demolition of two 40-storey towers constructed by Supertech Group at Noida, Uttar Pradesh. 

"The work of demolition should be carried out within 3 months under the supervision of NOIDA officials and at the expense of Supertech Group," the bench led by Justice DY Chandrachud said while pronouncing the orders. The court also recorded collusion between the NOIDA Officials and the appellant group on several instances.

The petitioner before the Allahabad High Court was Emerald Court Owner Resident Welfare Association of Emerald Court Group Housing Society.

It was their contention that the construction proposed by the Supertech Group would lead to the restricted passage of air and light, thereby infringing Art. 21 of the residents at Emerald – and was further in violation of Building Regulatory Norms of 2005, Fire Safety Norms, UP Apartments Act, 2010.

Case Title: Supertech Ltd. Vs. Emerald Court Owner Resident Welfare Association and Other Connected Matters