Supreme Court allows CBI to file 6 more cases in homebuyers' fraud probe

The Supreme Court on Tuesday told the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to register six additional cases in its ongoing investigation into the “unholy nexus” between developers and financial institutions to dupe homebuyers.

 

This comes on top of the 22 cases that the agency has already lodged.

 

A three-judge Bench of Justices Surya Kant, Ujjal Bhuyan, and N K Singh passed the order after Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the CBI, submitted that the agency had completed a preliminary inquiry into projects situated outside the Delhi-National Capital Region (NCR).

 

The inquiry covered developments in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Kolkata, Mohali, and Prayagraj.

 

Bhati told the court that the exercise showed cognisable offences had been committed, making further cases necessary to advance the investigation.

 

This was when the court was hearing a batch of petitions of over 1,200 homebuyers and borrowers who said they were being forced to pay monthly instalments on flats that had not been handed over to them.

 

On April 29, the court found a prima facie nexus between renowned banks and builders in the execution of projects in Noida, Greater Noida, Yamuna Expressway, Gurugram, and Ghaziabad.

 

Supertech was named a major defaulter, with the court directing the CBI to proceed in phases before lodging FIRs. It had asked the CBI to initiate seven preliminary inquiries.

 

In its July 22 update to the court, the CBI reported that six of the seven inquiries were complete and recommended registering 22 regular cases for detailed investigation.

 

The court allowed the request but also noted that the seventh inquiry, covering projects of developers other than Supertech in non-NCR cities, was still underway. It granted the agency six weeks to complete the exercise.

 

On Tuesday, the court was informed that the inquiry into projects in five cities outside NCR had concluded and that further cases were warranted. Taking note of this, the Bench permitted the agency to move ahead.