SC asks home buyers to suggest names of auditors to evaluate Amrapali accounts

The Supreme Court today asked home buyers to suggest names of three auditors who could do forensic audit of properties of Amrapali Group and its finances.

"You should suggest names of three auditors who could audit the balance sheet and the properties constructed by the Amrapali Group," a bench of Justices Arun Mishra and U U Lalit said.

The apex court also sought details of all the directors, who have served in the company since 2008 even for a few months, and their properties.

Advocate M L Lahoti, appearing for the home buyers, said that the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) should be asked to do the forensic audit of the Amrapali properties.

The bench, however, said that it may not be appropriate for CAG and asked the home buyers to suggest three names of their choice.

At the outset, advocate Gaurav Bhatia appearing for the Amrapali Group submitted an affidavit before the court giving details of encumbered and unencumbered properties.

He said that if the properties are auctioned then more than Rs 5,000 crore can be realised and the amount can be used to complete the pending projects.

Bhatia, reading out the affidavit, said that commercial spaces worth over Rs 1000 crore can be sold and the money can be used to complete the pending projects.

Among the properties proposed to be sold by the firm include those situated in Bhubaneswar (Odisha), Vrindavan (Uttar Pradesh), Bareilly (UP), Indore (MP), Jaipur (Rajasthan), Udaipur (Rajasthan), Raipur (Chhattisgarh), and Patna and Muzzafarpur in Bihar.