The Supertech Twin Towers in Noida’s Sector 93A face demolition on Sunday. The two residential towers- Apex and Cayene- were deemed illegal by the Allahabad High Court in 2014. The real estate firm appealed the decision to the Supreme Court, but the apex court upheld the decision last year. While the demolition takes up much of the headlines, another aspect of the order is equally important: the matter of refunds. The Courts had directed Supertech Ltd. to refund homebuyers, with a 12 per cent interest also applicable.

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Of the 633 buyers, 248 have availed of an early refund while 133 others took flats in other Supertech projects. In addition, the developer was directed to pay ₹2 crores to the Emerald Court Resident’s Welfare Association (ECRRWA) for the inconveniences caused to the residents due to the construction of the towers. However, the status of refunds

remains in doubt. In March, the real estate firm was declared bankrupt by the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). It came after they defaulted on ₹431 crore repayment to a consortium of banks. However, the developer insists that the defaults pertain to a financial creditor and won’t affect their ongoing projects. Irrespective, concerns persist among the Twin Towers buyers.

On Friday, a bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, AS Bopanna, and JB Pardiwala assured buyers of their refunds. In the meantime, the courts ordered the Interim Resolution Professional (IRP)- involved in Supertech Ltd.’s insolvency proceedings- to deposit ₹1 crore with an apex court registry, from which the remaining buyers will receive partial repayments:

“In the meantime, in order to ensure that the home buyers who are covered by the judgement of this court get some refund of their outstanding dues, we direct the IRP to deposit an amount of Rs one crore with the registry of this court on or before September 30”, the bench said.

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Further, amicus curiae Gaurav Agarwal will sit with the IRP to calculate the remaining dues to the buyers:

“The amicus and the IRP would jointly work out the outstanding dues of the home buyers, who have approached the court and submit their details on the next date of listing so that directions can be issued for the disbursement of the fund”, the bench added.