SC allows Corporation Bank to move NCLT for claims against Amrapali Group

The Supreme Court Thursday allowed the Corporation Bank, which has led a consortium of banks to lend loans to the Amrapali Group, to move the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT).

A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and U U Lalit, however, restrained the NCLT from proceeding ahead in the matter without any express direction from the court.

Attorney General K K Venugopal, appearing for the Corporation Bank said the bank has lend Rs 270 crore to the Amrapali Group and if it was not allowed to move NCLT, its claim from the real estate firm will become time barred.

He said the claim of the bank will become time barred by November 30.

The bench said "permission is granted" to the bank to move to NCLT so that its claim did not become time barred, but the tribunal will not proceed ahead unless "express permission" was granted by the court.

The apex court also identified 16 properties of the Amrapali Group for auctioning, preferably by the National Buildings Construction Corporation India Ltd (NBCC) to give the Public Sector Undertaking (PSU) an initial corpus to start work on the stalled projects.

It also ordered a forensic audit of the real estate firm and its promoters to gauge the extent of financial wrong-doings.

NBCC offered to the court that it can start construction on the 15 stalled projects with a capital of Rs 1,000 crore and the remaining amount of Rs 7,500 crore could be given in quarterly installments of Rs 250 crore.

The top court also brought CMD of Amrapali Group Anil Sharma under its scanner for declaring his assets worth
It said the records regarding how Sharma's assets, which were worth Rs 847 crore, have now come to be worth only