The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to grant bail to Unitech Ltd. promoters Sanjay Chandra and his brother Ajay Chandra in a case relating to alleged diversion of homebuyers’ money.
A Bench of Justices D.Y. Chandrachud and Hemant Gupta said the Chandras have still not complied with its October 30, 2017, order which asked them to deposit ₹750 crore with the SC Registry by December 31, 2017.
Order not complied with
“We note that on October 30, 2017, petitioners were subjected to bail provided they deposited ₹750 crore in the apex court Registry by December 31, 2017. The order was passed by a three-judge Bench. It is an admitted fact that said order of October 30, 2017 is still to be complied with. Therefore, prayer for bail is misconceived,” the Bench said.
The top court further said: “Under the circumstances, we see no reason that a two-judge Bench should modify the order of a three-judge Bench, particularly when the order of October 30, 2017 is not complied with.”
Criminal case
The Bench also directed the trial court, which is seized of the criminal case against the Unitech promoters, to proceed expeditiously in the trial.
Advocate Rajiv Nanda, appearing for the Economic Offences Wing of the Delhi Police, informed the Bench that a chargesheet has been filed in the case before the trial court and the matter is listed for framing of charges on February 7.
Lodged in Tihar jail for over 18 months, the Chandras have sought bail on the ground that they were complying with the apex court order and have deposited over ₹400 crore till now.
Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi said that the company has deposited ₹419 crore, and ₹45 crore is ready to be deposited after the proposed sale of land in Sriperumbudur, while the rest of the amount will be deposited after transfer of its stake in a power plant in Maharashtra.
He said that the Chandras, even while in jail, have delivered 2,839 flats to homebuyers and if granted bail would abide by every condition imposed on them, including cooperating with court-appointed forensic auditors. The contentions were, however, opposed by the homebuyers.
Forensic audit
On December 7, 2018, the apex court had directed forensic audit of Unitech Ltd. and its sister concerns and subsidiaries by Samir Paranjpe, Partner, Forensic & Investigation Services in M/s Grant Thornton India.
The amicus curiae appointed in the case had said in its report that out of 74 construction projects undertaken by Unitech, as many as 61 were incomplete and about 16,300 homebuyers were involved in these projects.
The court had noted that the documents and report of the Delhi Police had disclosed disturbing state of affairs at Unitech in which funds were collected from homebuyers and then siphoned off before the accounts were closed.
