SC asks directors of Unitech Ltd to give details of personal assets

The bench headed by Dipak Misra directed that neither any director nor their agents or assignees "shall create any third party interest in the properties" of the firms

The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed all the directors of Unitech Ltd and its subsidiaries to furnish details of their personal assets and warned them that if Rs 1 billion was not deposited by May 11, their assets would be auctioned.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra also said that the unencumbered properties of the real estate firm would be auctioned to realise the dues of the hassled homebuyers.

The bench, which also comprised judges A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud, took strong note of the approach of the firm in depositing money with the apex court registry and warned that if Rs 1 billion, as directed earlier, was not deposited by May 11, it may send other directors to jail, besides auctioning their personal properties.

It also asked the real estate firm, which has already given the list of unencumbered properties, to also provide details of their encumbered assets with specific information about the “extent of loans or encumberances”.

The bench directed that neither any director nor their agents or assignees “shall create any third party interest in the properties” of the firms and any violation of this direction would invite contempt proceedings.

The apex court, on April 9, had taken note of the list of all the unencumbered assets of Unitech Limited and ordered that a public notice is issued inviting objections for auctioning them to realise the dues of the hassled home buyers.

It had also imposed a cost of Rs 7.5 million on Om Shakti Agency (Madras) Pvt Ltd for its submission that it cannot deposit Rs 0.9 billion with the apex court Registry in lieu of purchasing Unitech's property near Chennai in Tamil Nadu.

The company had earlier said it was going to purchase the land of Unitech Ltd and deposit the money with the apex court, which in turn would have disbursed it to the home buyers who wanted their money back.

The bench had taken strong note of the submission that the company cannot deposit the money as it does not have the required funds.

Prior to this, the court had asked Unitech Limited and its MD Sanjay Chandra to give a list of its unencumbered properties in India and abroad and made it clear that they would be auctioned to clear dues of home buyers.

Chandra is seeking interim bail from the apex court after the Delhi High Court on August 11 last year had rejected the plea in a criminal case lodged in 2015 by 158 home-buyers of Unitech projects' -- 'Wild Flower Country' and 'Anthea Project' -- situated in Gurgaon in Haryana.