Registration of Amrapali Under RERA Cancelled
Registration of Amrapali Under RERA Cancelled
Registration of Amrapali Under RERA Cancelled
A bench headed by Justice Arun Mishra held Amrapali and other authorities of Noida and Greater
Noida guilty of defrauding home buyers. The group diverted the money to create personal assets
for the directors of Amrapali and failed to complete the project on time. The Supreme Court
ordered the cancellation of the Real Estate Regulation and Development Act (RERA) registration
of the Amrapali group and ordered National Buildings Construction Corporation Limited (NBCC)
to complete all the pending projects of the group. An action under the Prevention of Money
Laundering Act and Foreign Exchange Management Act is taken against the Amrapali directors
and a periodic report of the same is to be submitted to the Supreme Court.
Judgment: The Amrapali group was banned from taking any real estate project in the future as
their registration under RERA was canceled by the Supreme Court for money laundering. The
court also ordered the completion of more than 42,000 flats by NBCC which was previously taken
by the Amrapali group.
(Case name: Bikram Chatterji and others v Union of India and others, decided on 23.07.2019)
REPORTABLE
VERSUS
JUDGMENT
Arun Mishra, J.
1. These writ petitions pertain to the projects of various companies of Amrapali Group in the Noida and
Greater Noida.
2. It is submitted on behalf of the petitioners that in 2011 in Noida and Greater Noida various real estate
projects for housing were started. In the various projects, the Amrapali Group of Companies proposed to
construct approximately 42,000 flats. Various brochures were published and it was assured that the delivery of
possession shall be made in 36 months and other world-class amenities were also promised.
3. Various home buyers booked their apartments during the period 2010-2014. The buyers signed the Standard
Form of Allotment-cum-Flat Buyers Agreement and even after payment of 40 to 100 percent of total
consideration, they are faced with the threat of forfeiture of huge booking amount. The agreement contained
specific terms as to interest. Under Clause 14 of the agreement, the builder authorised itself to finance loan
from any financial institution by way of mortgage/charge/securitization of receivable of the land and flats and
the allottees will have no objection in this regard. Clause 15 also authorised the builder to keep full authority
over the flat depriving the allottees of any lien or interest despite payment of entire amount thereof.
4. The builder under Clause 19(a) was obliged to complete the flats of M/s. Amrapali Centurion Park Private
Limited within 30 months from the date of commencement of excavation/signing of the agreement, which may
vary for plus/minus 6 months. Under Clause 19(c), builder fixed a paltry sum of Rs.5 per square feet super area
per month for the period of delay, which would include any/all damages, compensation, claims for delayed
possession.
5. The buyers invested their life savings and some of them had obtained the loan from the Bank. Most of the
buyers have made the payment to the extent of 50 percent to 100 percent abiding by the payment schedule. The
dreams of the buyers of obtaining house were given serious jolts when M/s. Amrapali Silicon City Private
Limited and M/s. Amrapali Centurian Park Private Limited, respondent Nos.3 and 4 herein respectively were
found in serious breach of their obligation to deliver the flats within 36 months. They did not pay the amount
either to the Noida or Greater Noida Authority and also to the Banks. Several revised dates of possession were
fixed unilaterally, but they failed to deliver the flats. The Amrapali Group has failed to comply with its
obligation under the subvention scheme, the tenure of which was approved by the bank/financial institution.
The builder had failed to comply with the abovementioned scheme as the buyer making the payment of EMIs
to the banks, thereby causing a double loss. Some of the consumers approached the National Consumer
Dispute Redressal Commission (for short, ‘the NCDRC') by filing Consumer Complaint No.213 of 2017
under Section 12(1)(c) of the Consumer Protection Act, 1986.
6. The Bank of Baroda had filed Company Petition No. (IB)- 121(PB)/2017 before the National Company Law
Tribunal (for short, ‘the NCLT’) under Section 7 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 for triggering
the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process in the matter of M/s. Amrapali Silicon City Private Limited,
respondent No.3. The NCLT appointed the Interim Resolution Professional (in short, the ‘I.R.P'). Moratorium
was also declared thereby restricting the institution of any suits against the corporate debtor including
execution of any judgment, decree or order; transferring, encumbering, alienating or disposing of by the
corporate debtor any of its assets or any legal interest therein; and any action to foreclose, recover or enforce
any security interest created by the corporate debtor in respect of its property under the Securitisation and
Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest Act, 2002 (for short ‘the SARFAESI
Act'). The order of NCLT has a direct bearing on the home buyers of M/s. Amrapali Centurian Park Private
Limited, respondent no.4, which is virtually owned by M/s. Amrapali Silicon City Private Limited with 98.84
percent shareholding. Both the companies are run by the almost same set of Directors including Mr. Anil
Kumar Sharma and Mr. Shiv Priya. Thus, in order to secure the interest of home buyers, in the instant petitions
under Article 32, a plethora of intervention applications have been filed.
7. It is submitted on behalf of petitioners that home buyers have put their lives at stake by paying their lifetime
savings and hard-earned money in the purchase of flats. As such, they cannot be categorised as ordinary
financial creditors to rank pretty low in the order of priority under Section
53. Corporate builder heavily counts upon the home buyers as stakeholders to sustain in the market. Section
53 of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 is irrational and violates the rights of the home buyers
guaranteed under Article 21 as by subjecting the home buyers to the liquidation proceedings of discriminatory
nature. The very survival of home buyers has been seriously jeopardised. Not only they are going to lose the
entire money with accrued interest, but they also become financially crippled for all time to come even close to
the dream of a new home, let alone purchase it. There is no equal protection under the Insolvency and
Bankruptcy Code, 2016. The moratorium imposed by NCLT directly affecting not only the home buyers of
M/s.Amrapali Centurion Park Private Limited, but also similarly situated lakhs of home buyers in various
other projects. They cannot be deprived of their legal rights. Similar plight has been averred by the other
buyers in the other several projects.
8. The matter projects the issue of larger public interest. The real estate business has developed and it mainly
survived by the money invested by the buyer for the purchase of the house. They have the right to obtain
houses. The facts of the instant case project that Noida and Greater Noida have allotted huge plots to the
builders by charging a sum of approximately 10 percent and in most of the cases, thereafter no money has been
paid. The large number of projects which have come up not only in Noida and Greater Noida, but most of them
have not been completed by the builders/promoters and they have siphoned buyers' money in large scale. No
action has been taken by the Noida and Greater Noida Authorities against builders for cancellation of leases
due to violation to fulfil their obligation. Bankers have financed to builder certain loan on the condition to
invest in the projects, but they have also permitted the money to be used as for other purposes as apparent from
the report of the Forensic Audit in the instant case which had been submitted by Auditors - Mr. Pawan Kumar
Aggarwal and Mr. Ravinder Bhatia. The facts which are projected in the Forensic Auditor Report speaks for
itself.
9. Before we consider the Forensic Audit, it would be appropriate to refer to certain orders which were passed
from time to time by this Court. This Court on the application filed by petitioner - Bikram Chatterji, passed an
order on 22.11.2017, directing builder to deposit 10 percent of the dues to Noida Authorities. This Court also
directed that the phase in respect of which Occupancy Certificate and No Objection Certificate, if granted, the
possession of flats shall be handed over to the respective flat buyers. Liberty was granted to flat owners to
complete the finishing work. Thereafter, an order was passed on 31.1.2018, requesting the builder to deposit
amount as ordered on 17.11.2017. It was also pointed that in several places firefighting devices were not
installed though the places were occupied by thousands of families of Phase-I of Silicon City of Amrapali in
Sector 76, Noida. Directions were issued to do the needful. We also directed to submit the proposal within one
week with respect to all the projects, which were incomplete. On 22.2.2018, the following order was passed by
this Court:
10. Keeping in view the predominant interest of the home buyers, vide above order we directed the Amrapali
Group to complete the projects and the finishing work as assured, but it was not done as apprehended by the
home-buyers. This Court vide order dated 15.3.2018, directed to submit a joint proposal with respect to
providing project wise information of the stages of various building. Thereafter, on 27.3.2018, learned senior
counsel appearing for Amrapali Group stated that they are ready to undertake the completion of the projects of
Amrapali Group and we requested the I.R.P. of Amrapali Group not to proceed any further, in view of the
assurances given by the Amrapali Group to undertake works. This Court on 10.5.2018 has passed an order for
installation of lifts in the Towers and also to make certain lifts functional. We also asked the promoters/
developers to submit the statement of the total price of the flats, the total amount paid to the builder by the flat
buyers, the total amount spent by the builder on the construction and how the remaining part of the money paid
by buyers has been utilised. It also transpired from documents that money had been transferred to certain other
companies, thus, this Court has asked for the details of the composition of the transferee company including
the names of the Director and for what purpose money was transferred and how it is to be retrieved and how
projects are to be completed.
In relation to Saphire Phase-I, consisting of 1033 units, the time given is of 10+2 months for completion of the
project. II. SAPHIRE-PHASE-II :
It consists of 1308 units and the time sought for completion of the project is 12 to 15 months.
The promoter of the Saphire Phase I & II projects is M/s. Amrapali Saphire Developers Pvt. Ltd. The
developer chosen by the promoter is M/s. Galaxy Dreamhome Developers Pvt. Ltd. With respect to Saphire
Phase II project, as agreed to by the promoter, the relevant agreements entered into with co-developers to be
placed within one week. The documents shall be filed afresh, even if the same had been filed earlier, duly
supported by an affidavit. Let the undertaking of concerned promoter/co-developer be also placed on record
within seven days.
This project comprises of 2993 units. There are three categories of this project, namely:
i) The first category comprises of the following 19 towers with 1665 units and the time limit of 15 months is
fixed :
(iii) The third category (River view) comprises of 7 towers, i.e., D1 to D7. There are 917 units in this category
and time, as agreed to for completion is 29 (twenty-nine) months.
The co-developer of the first basket is M/s. Galaxy Dreamhome Developers Pvt. Ltd.
The promoter of the project is M/s. Amrapali Princely Estates Pvt. Ltd. There are 1919 units. Out of these,
minor work is required to be carried out in 1600 units, possession of which have already been handed over to
buyers and some work remains in three other towers, being towers N, O and P, which comprise 319 units.
Time agreed for completion of same is 12 months and it has been proposed that M/s. Kanodia Business Pvt.
Ltd. will be the co- developer.
It is also agreed to that as there is no water tank, no lift in three towers, i.e., N, O & P, the work of water tank
and lifts in these towers shall be completed within six months from today. As the inhabitants are already
occupying certain portion up to the fifth floor, let arrangements be made, as agreed to, for water tank on a
priority basis. Adequate provision for electricity connection shall also be made within three months from
today.
We defer the order with respect to Amrapali Silicon project, as agreed to.
THIRD BASKET Amrapali-the promoter has proposed certain projects in category-A, namely, Zodiac,
Platinum, Titanium and Eden Park in this basket. The promoter of the Zodiac is M/s. Amrapali Zodiac
Developers Pvt. Ltd., whereas the promoter of Platinum and Titanium is M/s. Ultra Home Construction Pvt.
Ltd. and of Eden Park, the promoter is Amrapali Eden Park Developers Pvt. Ltd. The following agreement has
been reached with respect to the aforesaid category ‘A’ projects : A.1. ZODIAC :
Zodiac comprises of 2230 units. It is agreed that the work in the said units shall be completed within 12
months. The co-developer is M/s. India Infoline Limited (IIFL) & M/s. Galaxy Dreamhome Developers Pvt.
Ltd.
(a) Platinum comprises of 888 units, and (b) Titanium comprises of 54 units. The work in the said units shall
be completed within 7 months. The codeveloper being M/s. IIFL or M/s. Galaxy Dreamhome Developers Pvt.
Ltd.
Let the requisite undertaking by the concerned promoter and co- developer be filed within seven days in this
Court. A.3. EDEN PARK :
Eden Park comprises of 316 units. The work shall be completed within 7 months. The co-developer is M/s.
Galaxy Dreamhome Developers Pvt. Ltd.
Let the promoter and co-developer to file a requisite undertaking within 7 days from today.
CATEGORY B PROJECTS :
B.1. CENTURIAN :
A. CENTURIAN PARK:
Centurian Park comprises of low rise 600 units. The work shall be completed within 10 months.
B. TERRACE HOMES :
Terrace Homes comprises of 3481 units. The work shall be completed within 21 months.
C. TROPICAL :
O-2 Valley comprises of 800 units. The work shall be completed within 12 months.
The proposed promoter is M/s. Amrapali Centurian Park Pvt. Ltd. and co-developer is M/s. IIFL.
It appears that earlier M/s. Sahi Developers Pvt. Ltd. was appointed as co-developer under a Joint
Development Agreement. There is some interse dispute with respect to the work undertaken by the said
codeveloper and the promoter. Be that as it may. The co- developer M/s. Sahi Developers Pvt. Ltd. to file the
details of the investment made by it in the projects. Let the promoter also file a reply to the same and
appropriate orders would be passed by this Court with respect to the interest of M/s. Sahi Developers Pvt. Ltd.
However, we permit the new codeveloper M/s. IIFL to be appointed for the said project so that owing to the
interse dispute between the promoter and co-developer, the project may not be delayed. B.2. GOLF HOME :
This project consists of two parts : (i) Golf Homes; and (ii) Kingswood.
Golf Homes consists of 4210 units. The work shall be completed within the period of 6 months to 22 months
and possession shall be handed over as soon as the project is completed.
(ii) Kingswood :
Kingswood comprises of 1596 units. The work shall be completed within nine months to 22 (twenty-two)
months.
The promoter of Golf Homes and Kingswood projects is M/s. Amrapali Smart City Developers Pvt. Ltd. and
the co-developer is M/s. IIFL.
Tech Park project is located in Greater Noida. The promoter is M/s. Ultra Home Construction Pvt. Ltd. and the
co-developer is M/s. IIFL The work shall be completed within the time limit of 18-24 months. PROJECT
COSMOS KOCHI :
In COSMOS KOCHI, the project at Kochi, the time limit for completion is fixed from 9 to 18 months. The
promoter of the Vananchal ‘Kochi', the project is M/s. Ultra Home Constructions Pvt. Ltd.
In VANANCHAL CITY, Ranchi project also, the promoter is M/s. Ultra Home Constructions Pvt. Ltd.
The promoter of Dream Valley is Amrapali Dream Valley Pvt. Ltd. This project comprises of Dream Valley
Villa and Enchante, with respect to which proposal has been filed.
a) Dream Valley (Villa): This project comprises of 379 units. The work shall be completed within 6-15 months
in a phase-wise manner.
b) Dream Valley-2 (High Rise): This project comprises of 8302 units. The work shall be completed within 9-
35 months.
c) Enchante: This project comprises of 1508 units. The work shall be completed in a phase-wise manner within
42 months. The co-developer is M/s. Galaxy Dreamhome Developers Pvt. Ltd. Requisite undertaking by the
promoter and the co-developer shall be filed within seven days.
a) Leisure Valley Villas – which comprises of 887 units, the work shall be completed within 6-15 months.
b) Verona Heights & Jaura Heights – comprise of 4964 units and the work shall be completed within 42
months.
c) Adarsh Awas Yojna - comprises of 1904 units and the work shall be completed within 30 to 42 months.
The promoter of the projects is M/s. Amrapali Leisure Valley Pvt. Ltd. and the co-developer is M/s. Galaxy
Dreamhome Developers Pvt. Ltd.
a) In a Heartbeat City-1 project, the number of units is 759 plus shops. The time limit is 10-18 months; and
b) In a Heartbeat City-2 project, the number of units is 1217 plus shops. The time limit is from January 2020 to
December 2020. The promoters of these projects are M/s. Pebble Prolease Pvt. Ltd. and M/s. Three Platinum
Softech Pvt. Ltd. The co-developer is M/s. Galaxy Dreamhome Developers Pvt. Ltd.
The aforesaid period wherever fixed includes the period of mobilization and reflects the outer limit. Let
undertaking of promoter and developer be filed within seven days with respect to all the projects.
4. It is apparent from the admission made by the promoter that the money to the extent of Rs.2765 crores, out
of the six projects in question, has been transmitted to other projects. Though we were inclined to direct the
promoter to deposit the said amount in this Court, we are not doing this at this juncture, because of the singular
reason that the various promoters of the projects have shown their willingness to complete these projects by
engaging the services of the co-developer. It is made clear that co-developer is the agent of the promoter. No
right or interest shall accrue to the co- developer and liability towards the buyer shall remain with the
promoter.
5. At this stage, we deem it appropriate to direct that an escrow account has to be opened. The said account has
to be opened in the UCO Bank, Supreme Court Branch, situated in the premises itself. At this juncture, we
deem it appropriate to direct the promoters to deposit a sum of Rs.250/- crores (Rupees Two Hundred Fifty
Crores) in the said escrow account, and money shall be deposited on or before 15th June 2018.
6. A proposal has also been submitted on behalf of the promoters of the aforesaid projects to sell some of the
unencumbered property, details of which have been given at page 28 of the affidavit dated 16.5.2018. Out of
the aforesaid proposal, we find that the properties mentioned at serial numbers 11 and 15 are of high value.
The unlaunched part of M/s. Amrapali Leisure Valley Pvt. Ltd., land of project is in Greater Noida, is held on
the basis of the leasehold interest from the Greater Noida Industrial Authority, the realizable value is shown to
be is Rs.917.29 crores (Rupees Nine Hundred Seventeen Crores Twenty Nine Lakhs). There is no bank loan
but however, there appear to be some dues to the Greater Noida Authority on this particular property. The
distress sale value is shown at Rs.491 crores (Rupees Four Hundred Ninety-One Crores). The property
mentioned at serial number 15 is a part of the unlaunched property of Amrapali Centurion Park (Commercial)
held on a leasehold basis from the Greater Noida Industrial Authority and its distress value is Rs.246 crores
(Rupees Two Hundred Forty- Six Crores).
7. There are some other commercial properties, which are in the form of hotels and other commercial
properties comprising of malls, etc. and those can also be sold for completion of projects. As and when a
concrete proposal is submitted before us for sale, the same shall be considered and appropriate orders would be
passed in this regard. However, the amount of Rs.250 crores (Rupees Two Hundred Fifty Crores) has to be
deposited by 15th of June, 2018 without fail, in the escrow account to be opened with the UCO Bank of this
Court.
8. There are certain outstanding dues of the buyers. It would be open to the buyers to deposit the said amount
in the said escrow account. However, as soon as the projects are completed, we propose to give them
reasonable time to deposit the outstanding dues. As soon as the promoter and co-developer are in a position to
hand over the possession, the buyers shall have to deposit the outstanding amount in the escrow account to be
opened in the UCO Bank, within three months time from the date of issuance of offer of possession.
9. We also propose to form a Committee to submit periodical reports of the progress of the construction, to this
Court, consisting of the following members:
10. There are certain unsold units in the various projects that have to be firstly adjusted by making swapping as
agreed to, after that the remaining available units may also be permitted to be sold. In this regard, a proposal
would be submitted as and when swapping process is completed and the details of property to be sold and
amount of offer by the prospective buyers, be indicated by this Court. The proposal will be submitted for
consideration so that appropriate orders may be passed by this Court. Let the Committee constituted by us also
to supervise the swapping part.
11. Eight weeks’ time is granted to the buyers for the purpose of applying for swapping and decision shall be
taken within 15 days from the date of application for the purpose of swapping is filed before the promoters. In
case there is any difficulty in swapping, the Committee is authorized to take care of the grievances and to
guide the promoters as well as the buyers.
12. As there are certain dues of Noida and Greater Noida Authorities and that of the secured creditors and
operational/unsecured creditors, let the proposal be submitted by the promoters in this regard, on or before
07.07.2018. We also place on record that approximately a sum of Rs.4,300-4,900/- crores will be required for
completion of the various projects as pointed out by promoters.
13. There are certain ‘C’ category projects. With respect to those projects also, as they are not taken care of
during swapping or there may be certain buyers not willing for swapping or certain amount may be required to
be refunded to the buyers, who are not intending to purchase now and not opting for swapping or/and is not
feasible, to take up those projects. The promoter shall also file its proposal with respect to such buyers who
want their money to be refunded. Let that proposal be also filed after swapping is done indicating therein as to
how many persons require to refund the money. The buyers in ‘C' category projects only who are intending to
obtain a refund, may also submit their proposal to the concerned promoter in the meantime, within one month
from today.
14. The promoters with respect to Silicon Valley have applied for connection for electricity, sewerage, and
water, as per the order passed by this Court on 10.5.2018. The aforesaid order is carried out punctually. The
promoters of Silicon Valley has undertaken to make the payment of dues onwards.
15. The joint statement that has been filed has been signed in the Court by the learned counsel for the
promoters as well as by learned counsel for the authorities and the flat buyers, is placed on record and made
part of this order as “Annexure-A”.
16. The aforesaid Committee constituted by us is also requested to evaluate the work undertaken by M/s. Sahi
Developers Pvt. Ltd. so far and submit a report in the 1 st week of July 2018.
17. Let nominations be made by the developers, flat buyers and authorities within seven days from today,
under intimation to this Court.
18. The matter has been heard in part and requires a further hearing. List on 18.7.2018 at 2.00 p.m.
19. It is agreed to, that with respect to essential amenities, the order passed by this Court on 10.5.2018 shall
also apply to Silicon City Phase I project and in case inhabitants are there in some towers, the same shall apply
to Silicon City Phase-II project also.” The aforesaid order was passed on the basis of the joint proposal, which
was in the form of four baskets with independent timelines, submitted in this Court.
12. It was also mentioned in paragraph 4 of the above order that admission has been made by the
promoters/builders that the money to the extent of Rs.2,765 crores, out of six projects has been transferred to
other projects. Though we were inclined to direct the promoter to deposit the said amount in this Court, we
refrained from directing as the willingness to complete the projects was shown by engaging services of co-
developers and builder assured that it would undertake the work. It was proposed to sell certain unencumbered
properties of Amrapali Group for payment of these projects, however, this Court directed to deposit an amount
of Rs.250 crores in the escrow account to be opened in the UCO Bank, Supreme Court Branch on or before
15.6.2018. This order was again not complied with and the work was not undertaken and inability was shown
to deposit the amount in the escrow account as ordered. When the case was listed on 18.7.2018 in this Court,
learned counsel appearing on behalf of promoters was to place progress report, but in order to wriggle out of
the compliance of order, totally a different stand was taken in this Court and it was stated that a notice dated
13.7.2018 has been issued by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, which was placed on record,
indicating that a High- Level Committee has been created by the Government of U.P. to redress the issues of
home buyers and the affected parties of incomplete/stalled house projects in the Noida/ Greater Noida/Yamuna
Expressway under the Chairmanship of Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. It was submitted on
behalf of Amrapali Group that a meeting was held today and prayed that something concrete is likely to
happen within ten days. We deferred the hearing up to 1.8.2018. However, at the same time, we directed the
builder to file the accounts with effect from 1.4.2008 till date under the certificate of Chartered Accountant and
also a list of all assets in a sealed cover in this Court. As a matter of fact, there was no compliance of the order
dated 17.5.2018 of this Court, but the totally indifferent stand was taken so as to wriggle out of their obligation
under said order was passed by this Court on the basis of the joint statement.
13. This Court has passed an order on 1.8.2018, wherein it was observed that in order to scuttle the hearing in
this Court, it was stated that the meeting was held on the very same day. The order passed by this Court on
17.5.2018 to deposit Rs.250 crores had not been complied with. There was also an admission made by
Amrapali Group that there was a diversion of more than Rs.2,765 crores from six projects. This Court
observed that money could not have been diverted. That would prima facie tantamount to a criminal breach of
trust. We directed that the individual bank accounts of the Directors of all the 40 companies be frozen and
ordered attachment of the properties in the individual names of Directors and also put a restriction on the
alienation of the properties in the names of individual Directors etc. Following order was passed by this Court:
"1. On 17.5.2018, we have passed a detailed order in these cases after hearing learned counsel for the parties
for several days. We need not reiterate the directions, statements, representations made to this Court and the
orders which we have passed. Order dated 17.5.2018 is clear in this regard. As per the order passed by this
Court, certain obligations were imposed and certain directions were issued which were to be complied with by
the group of companies as well as the co-promoters, etc., as mentioned in the aforesaid order. The compliance
has not been reported an effort was made to wriggle out of order passed on 17.5.2018.
2. When the matter was taken up on 18.7.2018, compliance of the order was not reported and on the other
hand, a letter dated 13.7.2018 signed by Mr. Akhil Saxena, Deputy Secretary to the Government of India, was
placed on record. The letter is extracted hereunder :
"No.D.17024...sic Government of India Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs Nirman Bhawan, New Delhi
Dated July 13, 2018 Meeting Notice Subject: Meeting to discuss the issues of homebuyers and affected parties
of Noida/Greater Noida/Yamuna Expressway scheduled to be held on 18.07.2018 at 11:00 A.M. - 1.00 P.M. -
regarding.
The undersigned is directed to state that a High-Level Committee has been constituted by the Government of
UP to redress the issues of homebuyers and affected parties of incomplete/stalled housing projects in the
Noida/Greater Noida/ Yamuna Expressway under the Chairmanship of Secretary, Ministry of Housing and
Urban Affairs.
2. In this regard the Chairman of the Committee and Secretary MoUHUA will hold a meeting with the
developers/promoters (Amrapali Group Jaypee Infratech Limited, Three C Group of Companies and Unitech
Limited) on 18 July, 2018 at 11:00 A.M. - 1:00 PM in Room No.123-C, Conference Room, 1st Floor, Nirman
Bhawan, New Delhi. You are requested to kindly make it convenient to attend the meeting personally. You
may also bring the details of the housing projects promoted by your company along with your specific plans as
to how earliest you can deliver the flats/houses to the home buyers who have made payments towards the same
to your company.
3. A line in confirmation on email, [email protected] will be highly appreciated.
Sd/-
(Akhil Saxena) Deputy Secretary to the Govt. of India Tel No.23062280 To
1. Shri Shiv Priya, ED, Amrapali Group, C-56/40 Sector-62, Noida-2301307.
2. Shri Nirmal Singh, Three C Group of Companies, Tech Boulevard Central Block, Plot No.6, Sector 127,
Noida-201307.
3. Shri Manoj Gaur, Jaypee Infratech Limited, Sector 128, Noida-201304 (U.P.), India.
4. Dr. Ramesh Chandra, Chairman, Unitech Limited, 6, Community Centre, Saket, New Delhi-110017.
Copy to :
1. Sr.PPS to Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
2. PPS to Additional Secretary (Housing), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
3. PS to Economic Adviser (Housing), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs.
4. Deputy Secretary (Housing), MoHUA Sd/-
(Anil Saxena) Deputy Secretary to the Govt. of India Tel. No.23062280"
3. In order to scuttle the hearing in this Court on 18.7.2018 on which the case was listed, it was reported to us
that meeting was held on that very day which was presided over by the Secretary, Ministry of Housing, who is
the Chairperson of the Committee and Secretary MoUHUA. Thereafter, pursuant to the said meeting it was
stated today that NBCC India Limited, a Government of India enterprise, has invited "Expression of Interest"
for joint development in real estate with respect to the development of residential and commercial real estate
projects in Delhi and NCR region, inclusive of the Amrapali Group for which we have already passed orders
on 17.5.2018.
4. In case the Committee constituted by the Government of Uttar Pradesh wanted to take up the matter of
Amrapali Group in view of the order dated 17.5.2018, it was necessary for them to seek the express permission
from this Court, as this Court was in seisin of the matters, before transacting any business in this regard. But
that has not been done and when the order of this Court stands, it was not at all appropriate or permissible to
take up the matter by the Committee and intermeddle with the order passed by this Court when the matter is
pending in this Court. The action has a clear effect on rendering order passed by this Court ineffective. In the
circumstances, we deem it appropriate to direct the presence of the Secretary to the Ministry of Housing and
Urban Affairs and the Chairman of the NBCC India Limited and to file their affidavit in this Court and
produce entire record so as to show how they have convened the meeting and acted in the manner in the matter
pending in this Court, without permission of this Court before dealing with the matter of Amrapali Group. Let
them be present before this Court tomorrow, i.e., on 2.8.2018, at 2.00 p.m. to explain their stand.
5. Mr. Anil Kumar Sharma, Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of Amrapali Group of Companies were
personally present in this Court. He has stated that there are 40 companies in the Amrapali Group of
Companies. They are as follows:
14. It was stated by Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs that he was not aware of the order
passed by this Court on 17.5.2018, appointing promoters and time frame and stated that he never intended to
violate the order passed by this Court. On 2.8.2018, we have recalled the order dated 17.5.2018, considering
the dubious and unfair conduct of the Amrapali Group of Companies and on each and every day they have
been shifting their stand. Earlier, they have filed affidavits making certain representations and now want to
wriggle out of it. Following order was passed on 2.8.2018, recalling the order dated 17.5.2018:
"1. Pursuant to the order passed yesterday, i.e., on 1.8.2018, Mr. Durga Shankar Mishra, Secretary, Ministry of
Housing and Urban Affairs, has stated that a Committee has been constituted by the Government of Uttar
Pradesh under his chairmanship to look into the problems of three lakhs home buyers of Noida, Greater Noida,
and Yamuna Expressway. The Committee has been constituted so as to take a policy decision so as to solve the
problems of the home buyers. On 25.6.2018, the first meeting of the then Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of
the Noida and Greater Noida, real estate representatives, etc. was held and thereafter, second meeting was held
on 10.7.2018, which was attended by 32 persons, inter alia including certain representatives of the Flat Owners
Welfare Association, Joint General Manager, ICICI Bank, AGM of the Bank of Baroda, General Manager of
HDFC Bank and Chairman of CREDAI had also attended the meeting. Thereafter, no meeting of the
Committee has been held. However, a discussion with the Chairman of representatives of the four builders,
i.e., Amrapali Group, Jaypee Infratech Ltd., Three C Group and Unitech Limited was held on 18.7.2018, along
with details of the housing projects promoted by their companies and with the specific plans as to how earliest
they could deliver the flats/houses to the home buyers who have made payments towards their companies. It
was also stated by the Secretary that he was not aware that this Court has passed an order on 17.5.2018
appointing promoters etc. and the time frame within which the projects have to be completed. He has also
stated that he never intended to violate the orders passed by this Court. The statement made by Mr. Mishra is
placed on record.
2. It was also submitted that NBCC issued advertisement on 30.7.2018 and the Chairman of the NBCC has
informed us that the said advertisement was not issued specifically for Amrapali Group of companies. Similar
advertisements have been issued earlier too. However, it was stated by the Chairman that they are ready to
undertake the Amrapali Group projects and to complete them, after making the detailed study of the stage and
investment which is required to be made in the projects that are incomplete.
3. Pursuant to the directions issued by the Court, Amrapali Group has placed on record the account numbers
and other details of 38 of Amrapali Group of companies only, but not that of the personal accounts and the
accounts in names of its Directors, as per the order passed by this Court on 1.8.2018. They have furnished the
details of 38 companies out of 40. They are contained in Annexures marked as X-1 and X-2.
4. We direct the Registry to apprise the concerned Banks along with the text of the order and the account
numbers so furnished. Let the copy of the order be sent to the Banks for its due compliance.
5. It was stated that the personal Bank accounts in the names of the Directors of aforesaid 40 companies are in
the process of compilation and that the account numbers shall be furnished to this Court by Monday, i.e., 6th
August 2018. On the account number being furnished, the Registry is directed to intimate the order to the said
Banks also regarding the order passed by this Court on 1.8.2018.
6. Two applications, i.e., I.A.Nos.82917/2018 and 92775/2018 in W.P.(C)No.942/2017 have been filed by the
Amrapali Silicon City Flat Owners Welfare Society and Heartbeat City for modification of order dated
17.5.2018. It was also pointed out that one of co- developer, IIFL, has backed out, thus, it was not possible to
comply with the order dated 17.5.2018 and same requires modification. The sum of Rs.250 crores has also not
been deposited. An application has been filed so as to waive that requirement also. When we see the conduct of
the promoter on the various stages, it is apparent that on 18.7.2018 on behalf of the promoter it was stated
before us that the Committee has been constituted by the Government of Uttar Pradesh under the
Chairmanship of the Secretary, Ministry of Housing & Urban Affairs, as such we should wait for the outcome
of same. Yesterday, i.e., on 1.8.2018 it was stated before us that NBCC is now considering to take over the
entire project of Amrapali Group as it has issued an advertisement for the purpose and as such the Court should
stay in our hands. In the circumstances, it is apparent that the Amrapali Group does not intend to abide by
order dated 17.5.2018 and its conduct is dubious. Thus, we have no hesitation in recalling the order dated
17.5.2018 permitting Amrapali Group to complete the projects. We hereby recall the order entrusting the
project to the Amrapali Group of companies for completion, along with co-promoters, and we place it on
record that the conduct of Amrapali Group of companies is wholly unfair and on each and every date they have
been shifting their stand before us and it was absolutely improper on their part to do so. They have violated our
order also. They have earlier filed affidavits making certain representations and now want to wriggle out of
that. Be that as it may. We recall the order dated 17.5.2018 under the aforesaid circumstances.
7. In the circumstances, as the Chairman of the NBCC is present before us and has shown willingness to
undertake the projects, the matter cannot be left at that. Let the NBCC complete the projects, let it undertake
the study and work out the details. Though the time of 45 days was prayed, considering the urgency of the
matter, we grant 30 days' time, as the people are deprived of basic necessities of life, and they are residing in
some incomplete buildings. We appreciate the gesture of the Chairman of NBCC, who has assured us to
complete the projects as may be directed and to submit a proposal in this Court within 30 days. Let a proposal
be submitted in 30 days before us.
8. In the circumstances, we direct the promoters and also request Mr. M.L. Lahoty and two other
representatives to be nominated by home buyers to assist and submit the details and all requisite documents to
the Chairman, NBCC as also to the Chairman of the Committee. Noida authority and Greater Noida authority
shall also furnish to them all the documents which are in their possession. Let promoter, Noida authority,
Greater Noida authority and buyers furnish all the documents/pleadings they have submitted to this Court,
within three days from today.
9. We also place on record the appreciation to the offer made by the Chairman, NBCC, and also by Mr.
Mishra, Chairman of the Committee. Let them make an endeavour to form policy and to solve problems of
other groups of companies also. However, the matters are pending in the Court, they have to appraise this
Court of their proposals and only thereafter to take steps in this regard.
10. Mr. Anil Mittal, the Chartered Accountant of Anil Ajay & Company, who is the statutory auditor for most
of the companies, is present in the Court. Similarly, Mr. Ravi Kapoor, the Chartered Accountant of Serva
Associates is also present in the Court. It is pointed out that the information furnished by them is contained on
page 6 and 7 of the compilation Annexure X-1. It is stated by Mr. Anil Mittal that his engagement as statutory
auditor has begun in the year 2008 and continued up to 2015. He was the auditor from 2008 and has also stated
before us that after 2015 no papers have been given to him. It was stated by Mr. Gaurav Bhatia, learned
counsel, that at present S.N. Dhawan & Company is doing the audit of the Company.
11. Since we find that various documents have been placed on record indicating transfer/diversion of the fund
by the Amrapali Group itself, the Amrapali Group has admitted that out of the six projects, there was
transfer/diversion of Rs.2765 crores. Though it was submitted that the amount was transferred to other
projects, in our opinion, this was clearly diversion of funds. The amount given by the home buyers for the
completion of their projects/houses could not have been diverted before the completion of the projects. We
request the auditors to find out how much money has been so transmitted/diverted to other projects and how it
has been used. Let projectwise information of all projects be furnished. The Amrapali Group of Companies
shall furnish the requisite information and documents and shall cooperate with the statutory auditors. Let the
auditor certify how much money has been diverted from which project and how it has been used in other
projects, including the projects of Heartbeat city. The internal auditor is requested to assist Mr. Anil Mittal in
this regard.
12. It was stated before us that the bank accounts of Amrapali Healthcare Pvt. Ltd. have also been frozen and it
is necessary to run the hospital to keep the accounts operational. Considering the fact that the hospital requires
money on a day-to-day basis, we order de-freezing of account of Amrapali Healthcare Pvt. Ltd. only.
However, at the same time, we direct that let the details of the bank account(s) of it be placed before us right
from 2008 till date. Interim order dated 1.8.2018 to continue unless otherwise ordered.
13. For the purpose of assessing the proposal to be submitted by the NBCC and to pass requisite orders in this
regard, we fix the hearing on 4.9.2018 at 2.00 p.m. Let the aforesaid reports be submitted by Mr. Anil Mittal
and Mr. Ravi Kapoor, Chartered Accounts before 4.9.2018.
For further order of other IAs. and arrangement of funds to be provided to NBCC and regarding furnishing of
accounts, let matters be listed on 8.8.2018 at 2.00 p.m. Personal presence of Secretary, Housing and Urban
Affairs and Chairman, NBCC, is dispensed with.”
15. There are various order sheets indicating how the wrong and incomplete information had been submitted
on behalf of Directors of Amrapali Group of Companies.
16. The National Building Construction Corporation Ltd. had been appointed by this Court to complete the
construction vide order dated 12.9.2018.
17. Vide order dated 8.8.2018, this Court had directed the Directors of various companies including the
Managing Directors to file affidavits regarding immovable properties and moveable properties and their
valuation. We had earlier asked the statutory auditors of Amrapali group of companies to conduct the audit.
However, it was pointed out on 4.9.2018 that there was the necessity of appointing independent auditors so as
to conduct a forensic audit. On 6.9.2018 this Court directed the forensic audit. Following order was passed on
4.9.2018 :
"We have heard learned counsel for the parties. A proposal has been submitted by the NBCC in the booklet
form. Let it be placed on record along with an affidavit of a responsible officer of the NBCC. Let a copy of the
same be circulated to the learned counsel appearing for the parties.
Let Amrapali Group of Companies file a response to the NBCC’s proposal for completion of the project.
We have heard Sh. Gaurav Bhatia about the property which can be sold. He has attracted our attention to the
affidavit of Shri Anil Kumar Sharma in terms of the Court’s order 10.5.2018 filed with respect to I.A. No.
7366 of 2018 in W.P. No. 942 of 2017.
He has submitted that Saleable Area Commercial is described at page 20 of the affidavit. The value is given as
per the development model, not the Distress Sale Value. Let Distress Sale Value be also stated on affidavit and
with respect to the fact that what are the encumbrances and also the dues of Noida/Greater Noida Authorities
as against the property as mentioned at page 20 of the affidavit.
He has also attracted our attention to the list of encumbered property on page 27 of the affidavit and list of
unencumbered property on page 28.
Let affidavit be filed specifically stating with respect to the nature and extent of encumbrances with respect to
encumbered property and how much is the amount due and what are the documents executed.
With respect to list of the unencumbered property also mentioned at page 28 there are certain dues of
Noida/Greater Noida Authority that may be clearly specified and let affidavit also specifically state that these
properties are otherwise unencumbered properties. Affidavit in detail be filed in this regard too.
With respect to the audit, the accounts for three years have not been made available to statutory Auditor as
pointed out by Mr. Anil Mittal of Anil Ajay & Co., appointed by this Court.
Mr. Maninder Singh learned senior counsel has urged that there is the necessity of appointing independent
auditors so as to conduct a forensic audit. He has prayed for time to suggest the names in this regard. It was
also pointed out by the learned counsel appearing for the Bank of Baroda that certain audit exercise has been
undertaken on behalf of the Bank of Baroda with respect to the transaction entered into with Bank of Baroda
which was the subject matter of other proceedings. Let the names of Auditor be suggested so as to conduct a
deep and pervasive forensic audit of the Amrapali Group of Companies.
Suggestions be made on the next date of hearing.
Mr. Shyam Diwan and Mr. Siddharth Luthra learned senior counsel have pressed I.A. Nos. 124711-124712 of
2018 and I.A. No. 36562 of 2018. These I.As are to be considered after forensic Audit is concluded and
a report is received.
List on 6th September 2018."
18. This Court appointed Mr. Ravi Bhatia of M/s. Bhatia & Co. and Mr. Pawan Kumar Aggarwal of M/s.
Sharp & Tannan Company to conduct the forensic audit, which was ordered to be conducted with effect from
the year 2008 till date, to be completed within two months. On 12.9.2018, a list of properties was submitted
which was to be sold by the Debt Recovery Tribunal, Delhi, (DRT) and the details of properties, title deeds
and maps were to be submitted to the DRT. This Court directed statutory Auditor, Mr. Anil Mittal, to hand
over the original records of Amrapali group of companies vide order dated 12.9.2018. This Court also directed
remaining records from 2008 till date, be handed over within 10 days. Amrapali group of companies were also
directed to hand over the documents required by the forensic auditors. The matter was taken up by this Court
on 26.9.2018. Considering the non-cooperation of the Directors, the following order was passed by this Court
on 26.9.2018 :
It was also pointed out that DRT has initiated the proceedings and has directed the production of the original
documents, sanctioned plans and other relevant documents available with Amrapali Group of Companies.
It was also submitted that valuation has also been ordered. We direct the Amrapali Group of companies and the
Directors viz. Mr. Anil Kumar Sharma, Ms. Shiv Priya, and Mr.Ajay Kumar to submit Maps clearly
delineating an unencumbered portion of their properties and other details which have been asked by the DRT.
Let them be present before the DRT on each and every date until and unless it is specifically dispensed with by
the DRT. Let the order of DRT be complied with by the Amrapali Group of the company before 4.10.2018.
With respect to the handing over the documents by the Statutory Auditors as well as by the Amrapali Group of
companies, we note it regrettably that order passed by this Court has been violated and the documents have not
been handed over in spite of clear and categorical direction to hand over the documents to forensic auditors
within ten days. However, it was pointed out by Mr. Gaurav Bhatia, learned counsel that statutory auditors are
going to hand over the document, etc. w.e.f. 2008 to 2015 by tomorrow to the forensic auditors. Let all the
necessary documents which may be in possession of Amrapali Group of companies in addition to statutory
auditors be also handed over from 2008-2015 and also all the papers of Amrapali Group of companies 2015-
2018 by tomorrow. We make it clear that the documents with respect to 2015- 2018 shall be handed over by
the Amrapali Group companies along with all the original documents necessary to do audit shall be handed
over to the forensic auditors by tomorrow. Let account books in whatever status they are, at present, be also
handed over.
We request the forensic auditors to send their representative on the next date of hearing to apprise us of
compliance of this order. Before IRB certain proceedings are pending for recovery of dues and inter alia, there
are dues of Bank of Maharashtra, etc also as pointed out including that of Bank of Baroda.
Let the details of all the outstanding dues of secured and unsecured creditors project-wise and in total be
submitted in this Court in a tabular form. Let total outstanding dues be stated, including that of Noida and
Greater Noida authorities supported by affidavit. Mr. Anoop Kumar Mittal, Chairman of the NBCC and Ms.
Pinky Anand, ASG are present. It was pointed out on behalf of the NBCC that detailed project report has to be
prepared of Group A Project within 30 days and Group B and C Projects within 60 days. It was also pointed
out that tenders may be permitted to be floated by NBCC Group A and B projects. The NBCC is permitted to
float the tenders and also to go ahead with the preparation of the DPRs and also to submit detailed proposals,
terms, and conditions in this Court as prayed by them. Existing architects of Amrapali Group of Companies to
ensure cooperation with the NBCC. Non-cooperation shall be viewed seriously by this Court. Let DRT go
ahead with the process of finding out the encumbrances. We also permit the Bank of Maharashtra and all other
such creditors who may have a charge on the unencumbered property to state their claim before DRT.
List on 9.10.2018.”
19. On 9.10.2018 when despite the orders dated 12.9.2018 and 26.9.2018, orders were not complied with,
records were not handed over and there was utter violation of orders passed by this Court, we directed the
Police to seize all the documents and to hand them over to the Forensic Auditors from the possession of 46
companies and their Directors. We directed all the Directors to surrender their passports and hand them over to
the Police. The observations made by this Court were being misused by Amrapali group of companies, "No
coercive action will be taken by any authority with respect to the building where completion is going on under
the order passed by this Court". As observed on 27.3.2018, we clarified that the observations did not deal with
any police investigation in any criminal case or in FIR which may have been registered with the Delhi Police,
EOW, to make investigation in any case which is required to be made. Police was free to make an
investigation. On 10.10.2018 this Court directed the concerned police officers to seal all the seven premises
situated at Noida and Greater Noida. On 11.10.2018 certain directions were issued so as to facilitate the
forensic audit. After audit work was over for the day, on a prayer made by learned counsel on behalf of the
three Directors of Amrapali group of companies, they were permitted to stay overnight in Hotel Park Ascent
but they shall not be allowed any access to the mobile phone or the facility of telecommunication without
permission in writing of the police. This Court also directed issuance of a formal notice on the suo moto
contempt.
20. On 24.10.2018 the forensic auditors were present. They have disclosed as to diversion of funds of more
than Rs.100 crores to a firm known as GauriSuta Infrastructures Pvt. Ltd. in which Ashish Jain and Vivek
Mittal were the Directors. They are stated to be the relatives of the Statutory Auditors. We directed the
personal presence of Chander Wadhwa, CFO of Amrapali group of companies on the next date. On 26.10.2018
the Forensic Auditors submitted an interim report. It was pointed out that the tally data of 23 companies,
reserves and surplus figures as appearing in the tally data does not reconcile with the reserves and surplus as
appearing in the last signed financials. The difference has also been pointed out in a tabular form. There were
several advances, investments, utilisations, advances made to suppliers and payments made to Mr. Anil
Sharma and Mr. Shiv Priya, Directors of the company for professional charges, etc. It was also pointed out that
in spite of repeated reminders, groupings have not been supplied. Grouping is a process to indicate the process
between the stage of trial balance, balance sheet, and profit and loss account. All files had not been handed
over and Mr. Anil Mittal, the Statutory Auditor had sent one file late in the evening. This Court ordered that in
case documents were not handed over, the same shall be viewed seriously and the incumbents punished
suitably. The last opportunity was granted to hand over the requisite documents to the Forensic Auditors.
We directed Statutory Auditors to comply with the requisition made by the Forensic Auditors. It was also
noted by this Court that a sum of Rs.242.38 crores had been handed over to Gaurisuta Infrastructure Private
Ltd., Vidhyashree Buildcon Private Ltd., Mannat Buildcraft Private Ltd. This Court observed in para 5 thus :
“5. It has also been pointed out by Shri Pawan K. Aggarwal in his report that so far with respect to four
companies, namely, Gaurisuta Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd., Vidhyashree Buildcon Pvt. Ltd., Mannat Buildcraft Pvt.
Ltd. And Jhamb Finance & Leasing Pvt. Ltd., only it has been noticed that a sum of Rs.242.38 crores has been
handed over to them and in most of these firms Shri Ashish Jain and Shri Vivek Mittal are the Directors.
Beside, it was stated before us by Shri Anil Mittal, statutory auditor, that his nephew- Vivek Mittal joined as a
Director on the request made by Shri Chander Wadhwa, CFO, to create a company and he has in turn asked
Shri Ashish Jain, an employee of his client, to join as another Directory of at least 10 companies, created at the
request of the CFO and Amrapali Group of Companies. It is a shocking state of affairs that the statutory
auditor himself was responsible for the creation of companies in an aforesaid manner. Shri Anil Mittal has also
stated before us that he was aware that the money was flowing to the said companies through bank statements.
However, on a specific query made by this Court to him, he has admitted that this fact of flow of money was
not reflected in the audit report, which was signed by him in the audited Balance Sheet, in spite of knowing the
fact that money has flown out of the accounts of the Amrapali Group of Companies to aforesaid companies."
About the creation of companies consisting of his nephew as Director on the request made by Mr. Chander
Wadhwa, CFO for asking Ashish Jain, an employee of his client, to join as another Director. The Company
agreed at the request of the CFO and Amrapali group of companies.
21. Since the CFO did not reply to the questions put by the Forensic Auditors to him, his conduct has been
noted by this Court thus:
"6. We regretfully also note the conduct of the CFO, who is personally present before us today. His questions
and answers have been placed on record by Shri Pavan K. Aggarwal, Forensic Auditor, along with his report
and today we find that Shri Chander Wadhwa has contradicted his version which he had made to the Forensic
Auditor. He has apologized for making wrong statements to the Forensic Auditor and has assured us that in
future he will render all cooperation to the Forensic Auditors rightly, honestly and diligently. He has admitted
today that there was appointment order as CFO and there was an authorization in writing issued to him for
dealing with the banks. He has virtually contradicted the entire statement which he had made and has feigned
ignorance to the Forensic Auditors. Be that as it may. We give him the last opportunity to come out clean and
live up to the reputation of a profession of a Chartered Accountant. Let him cooperate with the Forensic
Auditors, supply entire information correctly, truly and diligently. In case any remiss is found, it is made clear
not only to him but also to the statutory/internal auditors that we will be compelled to take appropriate action
as against them in the aforesaid factual situation, including the one for the professional misconduct."
22. It was further pointed out by the forensic auditors that there were 23 more groups of companies to whom
money had been diverted and these companies had been created by Amrapali group of companies. This Court
directed disclosure of these companies in the order dated 26.10.2018 thus:
"7. Shri Pavan K. Aggarwal has also pointed out to us that there are 23 groups of companies to whom the
money has been diverted and these companies have been created. Let the names of the companies be disclosed
to the Amrapali Group of Companies and we direct the police to seize all the documents of these 23 companies
to which money has been diverted and be handed over to the Forensic Auditors.
9. We also direct the Directors of other 23 companies, which have been identified so far by the Forensic
Auditors, to file their detailed affidavits in this Court, disclosing the amount received by them, dates of receipt,
for what purpose and how it is utilized and invested by them.”
23. We had also directed Mr. Chander Wadhwa, CFO to file affidavit pointing out appointment order,
authorisation, authority to sign any voucher and his entire role in the organisation thus:
"13. Let Shri Chander Wadhwa, CFO, file his affidavit in this Court placing the appointment order;
authorization made to him from time to time; his authorization letters; details of attendance, if any, at the
Board meetings; authority to sign any voucher; and his entire role which he has performed in the organization.
Besides, it was also stated by Shri Chander Wadhwa, CFO, that he was one of the Directors of the Amrapali
Development UK Ltd. and Saffron LLP, Delhi. Let the details of the Articles of Association of these
companies be placed on record and the present composition of the Directors and the entire transactions be
disclosed on affidavit, along with the documents of these companies and returns, if any, which have been filed,
be also handed over to the Forensic Auditors and affidavit be filed in this Court in this regard.
14. It was also stated by Shri Chander Wadhwa that his nephew is one of the Directors in M/s. Rinku
Computech, one of the shareholders of the Amrapali Biotech India Pvt. Ltd. His disclosure on affidavit be also
made by Shri Chander Wadhwa."
24. We also issued other directions to ensure that laptops and computers were made available to forensic
auditors. On 31.10.2018 this Court noted that certain transactions of Amrapali group to Zodiac/J.P. Morgan,
Mauritius/Singapore by the creation of various companies. We directed the bank statement of J.P. Morgan
from 2008 till date to be filed. With respect to the money received from the Indian companies and in particular
from Amrapali group of companies, all monetary transactions of J.P. Morgan, Mauritius and Singapore with
Amrapali group of companies be disclosed with details on affidavit. We directed the Amrapali group of
companies/statutory auditors as well as Anil Mittal, Ravi Kapoor and S.N. Dhawan and CFO to disclose the
names of all the companies in which their family members or acquaintance were included as Director and all
the transactions inter alia family members and relatives. It was also pointed out by Mr. Chander Wadhwa, CFO
that though his salary was Rs.15,000 per month, a car worth Rs.43 lakhs was given to him by the company in
lieu of his services. It was also pointed out that an amount of Rs.2 crores has been paid on account of Chander
Wadhwa’s tax liability by Amrapali group of companies. Further directions were also issued to make
the disclosures. This Court has noted the conduct of non-compliance of the order vide order dated 13.11.2018
thus:
“4. This Court has drawn suo moto contempt on 12.10.2018 and that is listed on 20.11.2018. In spite of the
aforesaid observation made in the order dated 26.10.2018, still there is gross disobedience of the directions
issued by this Court and in the affidavit filed in compliance of the order dated 26.10.2018, the various
disclosures as ordered have not been made. Besides that, there is a failure to hand over to the forensic auditors,
the relevant material as pointed out by them.
5. The names of all the related companies have also not been disclosed with which the transactions have taken
place. No such statement has been made categorically in terms of the order passed by this Court on 31.10.2018
and absolutely vague averments have been made. This tantamount to deliberate noncompliance of the orders of
this Court despite several opportunities having been granted.
7. An affidavit has also been filed by Mr. Anil Sharma of Amrapali Group of Companies in which names of
the companies which were ordered to be disclosed have not been disclosed and no statement has been made as
ordered on 31.10.2018. It is a gross violation of the orders passed by this Court. There are certain averments in
the affidavit which shows that certain properties have been sub-leased, out of Dream Valley, Centurian Park,
Amrapali Leisure Valley. The subleases have been created. Full disclosures have not been made as to
subleasing since earlier affidavits were contrary to it, it was shown as unencumbered property. we direct the
Directors of Amrapali Group of Companies to disclose entire transaction and relevant documents as well as
Greater Noida Authorities to file the documents about sub-leases, who is holding the land as on today, its
considerations, how it has been used, how much consideration was received and where the amount is lying,
and the sub-lease deeds be also placed on record. We order that there shall not be any further alienation of the
sub-leased property by anyone.
8. Statements of various bank accounts have also not been furnished besides other particulars. Learned counsel
has again surprisingly prayed for three weeks’ further time to furnish the details though sufficient time had
been given. No direction is being complied with. The Directors are filing the affidavit on each and every date
making improvement as the forensic audit progresses. They are not making full disclosures and concealing the
facts and have not mentioned in the affidavit what they are ordered to do. It is clear that they are obstructing
the course of justice to the best of their ability. This state of affairs cannot be continued any further. For non-
compliance of the directions issued from time to time, we have already drawn suo moto contempt and as
subsequent orders have also been violated. For the purpose of taking the contempt proceedings to further
logical end, before this Court passes any further order, we give an opportunity to the Amrapali Group of
Companies and Directors to furnish their reply as to why they should not be punished for the contempt and the
violation of the order passed by this Court from time to time by November 19, 2018. The case will be taken up
for considering non-
compliance of the order and for filing the wrong affidavits before this Court, on 20.11.2018 along with the suo
moto contempt that has been registered vide order dated 12.10.2018.
9. We have two affidavits. One of Anil Mittal and another of Chander Wadhwa. Both are passing liability on
each other for creating certain additional companies. None want to own the responsibility. We require
Amrapali Group of Companies and their Directors to file a reply to the affidavit, filed by their CFO Chander
Wadhwa and Anil Mittal. Let the copies of affidavits of Chander Wadhwa and Anil Mittal be furnished to the
Advocate on Record, Amrapali Group of Companies. Let para-wise and point-wise reply be submitted as to
what has transpired in the Court, as recorded in order-sheets, including what they have stated in their
affidavits.
12. It was also pointed out that Computech Pvt Ltd. is in possession of a substantial amount. The forensic
auditors are in the process of examining the details. However, at this juncture pursuant to findings of forensic
auditors, it was pointed out by Mr. Vikas Singh, learned counsel appearing on behalf of Chander Wadhwa,
CFO that a sum of Rs.7.58 crore from Rinku Computech Private Limited and Rs.4.1 crore is lying with
Chander Wadhwa, said amount is out of the transactions with the Amrapali Group of Companies. He has
volunteered to deposit the amount within three weeks from today. Let it be deposited in the account opened
with the Registrar of this court, within three weeks.
14. From the forensic auditors' report, it is prima facie clear that Amrapali Healthcare Private Limited, as
pointed out in Annexure 11 is created out of funds belonging to the Amrapali group. That is extracted
hereunder:
Annexure-11 Amrapali Healthcare Private Limited (As per Audited financials 2015-16) Details of Asset
(Figures in crore) Sl. No. Asset Book value Address
1. Land 0.53 Amrapali Hospital P2, NH-34 Omega 1, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh-201310
2. Building 4.43 Amrapali Hospital P2, NH-34 Omega 1, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh-201310 Date of
transaction Area (sq. meters)-
Constructed area-
Details of Inter Corporate Deposits (figures in crore) Sl. No. Name of company Amount
2. Others 0.32 List of Present Directors Sl. No. Name Begin Date
2. Suvash Chandra 27/11/2012 Kumar It has also been pointed out that this hospital is, in fact, owned to the
extent of 99.89 percent by Ultra Home Constructions Pvt Ltd. and funding has been made by the said
company. It is one of the companies out of the Amrapali Group of Companies involved in the case. Thus, it is
apparent that this property has to be sold as it has been purchased out of money of buyers, in order to make
available the money for the construction of the buildings.
17. It is a case where we find ourselves in a situation that the money of Greater Noida and Noida Authorities
has not been paid, buyers have also been duped. Other financial institutions have not been paid. Construction
has not been completed. Money paid by buyers has been diverted for the creation of various companies and
assets have been created. All these assets are accountable and have to be sold as it is not the independent
investment made by these directors. It is a patent and blatant fraud which appears to have been played, the way
in which the money has been transacted and creation of companies has taken place in connivance with the
CFO, statutory auditors. It was also pointed out that there are various related companies in which money has
been transferred. We restrain all monetary transactions out of bank accounts or any kind of alienation of the
property held by the related group of companies where the money has been siphoned and has been used for the
creation of the assets. Any transfer made in any manner shall be illegal, void and inoperative.
20. It is also necessary in order to find out the actual amount invested in building activities, out of the funds
collected. It also appears that certain companies were created only for the purpose of purchasing raw materials.
Whether actual transactions of purchase have taken place is required to be ascertained. Let all the vouchers of
the purchase, Bills, orders, etc., which are in possession of Amrapali Group of Companies and the estimates of
various raw materials for each and every building without which construction of a building is not possible to
be undertaken to be positively handed over to the forensic auditors within a week. We also request the forensic
auditors to propose how the actual valuation of the buildings constructed so far by the Amrapali Group of
Companies on the spot can be made so as to ascertain the actual investments made and extent of diversion. Let
the estimate and quantities of the bills be also furnished by Amrapali Group to the forensic auditors along with
the names of all the suppliers and mode of payment. They may also collect information/documents from
suppliers."
Certain directions were also issued to DRT to make the valuation to sell the property. Other facts were also
noted.
25. On 20.11.2018 this Court had noted non-compliance of various orders passed by this Court from time to
time. Various sub-leases had also been created. We issued the directions vide order dated 20.11.2018 as under:
"3. It appears that various sub-lessees have been created. It was informed to us by the learned senior counsel
appearing on behalf of the Amrapali Group of Companies that certain structures have been raised by the sub-
lessees. We have asked them to disclose all the information on affidavit, but the order still remains
uncomplied. Various directions in this regard have been issued in paragraph 7 of the order dated 13.11.2018.
There are various other directions issued time to time also and compliance thereof is still wanting, though time
fixed is over.
4. In the circumstances, we give one last opportunity to the Amrapali Group of Companies, particularly to all
the Directors of the company and also those who have filed a reply in the Suo Motu Contempt. They have to
file their further affidavits in compliance with the aforesaid directions as to what they have done and to make
the disclosure as envisaged in various orders.” We had also directed that any non-cooperation with the
Forensic Auditors shall be viewed seriously. Statements of accounts of banks were also ordered to be issued by
the banks. In order dated 5.12.2018 this Court observed that let the Amrapali group of companies and their
Directors Mr. Chander Wadhwa, CFO and Mr. Anil Mittal to explain as to why criminal action be not initiated
against them on the basis of affidavits, various documents and the statements made in this Court on various
dates and why their conduct as projected in the case be not reported to the ICAI to inquire. We directed the
production of details of immovable properties as well as the movables etc. This Court also noted that DRT has
pointed out that there was non-cooperation and non-compliance on the part of Amrapali group of companies. It
was also pointed out to this Court that certain buyers/companies who have booked the flats by making payment
of a paltry amount for the purchase of several flats/plots, did not appear to be genuine buyers. We have
directed the Forensic Auditors to look into this issue. We also directed all the Directors of companies, their
relatives, family members, Mr.Chander Wadhwa, CFO and statutory auditors who were in receipt of money of
home buyers, to deposit the same in this Court. The last opportunity was given to do so.
"4. Pursuant to our order dated 05.12.2018, Mr. Adhikari Devi Prasad, Mr. Bhuvan Pant, Mr. Prasanna Kumar
Rout, Mr. Jagannath Sharma, Mr. Tarun Kumar Sharma, and Mr. Sunil Kumar and also Mr. Anil Sharma,
Director, Amrapali Group of Companies are present in the Court. We generally asked them how the accounts
for the period 2015 to 2018 were prepared by them and submitted in the Court. They have stated that it was
based on tally data which was given to them. In addition, Mr.Prasanna Kumar Rout, who worked as an
Accountant with Amrapali Sapphire, stated that he made the entries up to August 2018 in the tally data on the
basis of the documents/vouchers which were made available to him. Mr.Jagannath Sharma, who is a Chartered
Accountant and partner in L.D.R. Company stated that they have prepared the balance sheet on the basis of the
tally data provided to them for the years 2015 to 2018. However, when cross-checked with the Forensic
Auditors, the Court was informed that the data from 2015 to 2018 has not been made available fully to them. It
was also pointed out that there should be supporting documents/material to make these entries other than the
Bank statement when these statements have been prepared that should also be clarified by Amrapali Group and
supplied to the Forensic Auditors.” We also directed details of unsold apartments and flats of the projects to be
submitted in this Court. It was also pointed out that the methodology has been adopted by creating sub-leases
as a mode of siphoning off the amount of the buyers. This Court noted the following facts and issued the
requisite directions:
“8. Mr. Lahoty, the learned counsel, also pointed out that the methodology which has been adopted for creating
the subleases was, by and large, a mode of siphoning the amount. He has given the following details as
Annexure E, which is extracted below:-
“CREATION OF SUB-LEASES I. Amrapali Centurian Park: (Current Status: 228646 Sq. Mts.) As per the
lease deed, Lessor here is Greater Noida Authority
1. Lessee here is Amrapali Centurian Park Pvt Ltd (Total Area – 2,72,916 Sq Mts)
2. Sub- Lessee of Amrapali Centurian Park here are: o Hawelia Builders Pvt. Ltd (Hawelia Valenova Park –
14920 Sq Mts) o DSD Homes Pvt Ltd (Novena Green – 14760 Sq Mts) • In DSD Homes, Mr. Nishant Mukul
(brother in law of Chairman Mr. Anil Sharma) Ex-Director of Amrapali Group was also a director. o Elegant
Infracon Pvt Ltd (Elegant Villa Phase I, III, & IV - 14590 Sq Mts) • In the Elegant Infracon following are
consortium partners with shareholding:
Vidhyashree Buildcon Pvt Ltd (26%) Nishant Creation Pvt Ltd (19%) Anjali Buildcon Pvt Ltd (20%) Agrawal
Associates (Promoters) Ltd (5%) Elegant Infracon Pvt Ltd (19%) Stunning Construction Pvt Ltd (11%) •
Vidhyashree Buildcon is one of the companies as mentioned in an order dated 26.10.2018 page 13, point 5, to
whom sum of Rs.242.38 crores has been handed over. Mr. Pankaj Jain (current director of Amrapali Group)
was also a director in Vidhyashree Buildcon Pvt Ltd.
• Sushma Bajaj & Kulbhushan Bajaj (Current directors of Amrapali Group) are also directors in Nishant
Creation Pvt Ltd.
• Mukesh Kumar Roy (DIN: 2175661) who is presently director of Amrapali Group (listed in 46 companies
LA Residentia) is also director of Anjali Buildcon.
• In Anjali Buildcon Mr. Sanjiv Kumar (DIN: 03136323) is also one of the directors, who is the director of
New Tech La Palacia to whom Shri Balaji Hi-Tech Construction Pvt Ltd (A sublessee of Amrapali Dream
Valley) has further transferred the sub-lease of said project.
1. Lessee here is Amrapali Dream Valley Pvt Ltd (Total Area – 354298 Sq Mts)
o M/s Shri Balaji Hi-Tech Construction Pvt Ltd (Total Are – 12479 Sq Mts) o M/s K.V. Developers Pvt Ltd
(Total Area – 19986 Sq Mts) o M/s J.M. Housing Ltd (Total Area – 33537 Sq Mts) o M/s Samridhi Reality
Homes Pvt Ltd (Total Area – 27989) o Sum Total Area is 93991 Sq Mts • Shri Balaji Hi-Tech Construction
Pvt Ltd one of Amrapali Group company (Sr.53 Page 2913 of an affidavit by Mr. Anil Sharma as Affidavit
Submitted in terms of order dated 26.09.2018, 31.10.2018. submitted on 12.11.2018, where Mr. Ajay Kumar
& Mr. Mukesh Kumar Roy were directors.
• Shri Balaji Hi-Tech Construction Pvt Ltd has further transferred the sub-lease to a new company namely
New Tech La Palacia Pvt. Ltd, which has applied for a revised sanction plan dated 21.01.2013 and it's not yet
approved. (page 18 of GNOIDA affidavit) • In New Tech La Palacia Mr.Sanjiv Kumar (DIN: 03136323) is a
director who is also a director of Anjali Buildcon (one of the shareholders of Elegant Infracon Pvt. Ltd. who is
sub-lessee of Amrapali Centurian Park. • Rs. 91.89 Crs (Approx) amount which is to be paid by sublessee/s III.
Leisure Valley: (Current Status: 396124.20 Sq. Mts As per the lease deed, Lessor here is Greater Noida
Authority.
1. Lessee here is Amrapali Leisure Valley Pvt Ltd (Total Area – 419519.20 Sq. Mts.)
a. M/s Start Landcraft Pvt. Ltd. (Total Are – 23395 Sq Mts) Rs.3.2 Crs. (Approx) amount which is to be paid
by sublessee/s”
9. We have directed Mr. Anil Sharma, Director of Amrapali Group of Companies and other Directors to
explain the sub-leases and place the documents regarding the creation of subleases on record. Mr. Anil Sharma
stated before us that approximately a sum of Rs.66 Crores has been received by the creation of these sub-leases
and that amount has been accounted for in the accounts of concerned Amrapali Group of Companies. With
respect to the money utilization in an aforesaid manner, companies, names of Directors, relationship and
activity made by sub- lessee so far, let details be filed on an affidavit. We also request the Forensic Auditors to
look into this aspect and submit a report before us on the next date of hearing along with other aspects
mentioned in the above-quoted details filed on behalf of the flat buyers."
27. The directions were also issued to DRT to make a further valuation of Tech Park (Hotel) in Greater Noida.
On 25.1.2019 we issued certain directions. On 11.2.2019 we directed M/s. J.P. Morgan to disclose the names
of the investors and beneficiaries who invested in the Mauritius Fund which had invested in Amrapali INR
Rs.85 crores. On 14.2.2019, dues were pointed out against individuals and Directors also. Against Directors
there was a report of loans and advances to the extent of Rs.161.51 crores as noted in the order. We issued
certain directions with respect to M/s. Golf Link City Projects Private Ltd. as well as M/s. Royal Golf Link
City Projects Pvt. Ltd. We directed Mr. Anil Kumar Sharma to deposit an amount; whereas the non-
compliance made by Amrapali was also pointed out by the buyers which had been noted. As inability was
expressed on behalf of M/s. J.P. Morgan to explain valuation report dated 23.10.2013 submitted by Mr. Sudit
K. Parikh & Co., Chartered Accountants, they were ordered to explain the valuation report on the basis of
which Rs.140 crores had been withdrawn by M/s. J.P. Morgan. It was also pointed out in this connection that
the shares of Amrapali Zodiac were ultimately purchased for Rs.140 crores by M/s. Neelkanth and M/s.
Rudraksha Forensic auditors pointed out that two persons namely Chandan Kumar, is a peon of Mr. Anil
Mittal, statutory auditor and was working in his office and one is Vivek Mittal, nephew of Mr. Anil Mittal,
who was doing petty jobs of sub-contractors, getting a monthly income of Rs.15,000. They were stated to be
Directors in the companies, i.e., M/s. Neelkanth and Rudraksha. They were not having any capacity to give
Rs.140 crores to M/s. J.P. Morgan. This Court has noted the facts thus:
“As inability was expressed on behalf of M/s. J.P. Morgan as well as other counsel to explain the report dated
23.10.2013 submitted by Mr. Sudit K. Parikh & Co., Chartered Accountants. In the circumstances, so as to
find out the basis of the valuation, it is necessary to call Mr. Sudit K. Parikh [Address : Ballard House, 2nd
Floor, Adi Marzban Path, Ballard Pier, Fort, Mumbai – 400 001] to explain the valuation report on the basis of
which Rs. 140 crores had been withdrawn by M/s. J.P. Morgan. Let the Registry send a communication to Mr.
Sudit K. Parikh to appear before this Court on the next date of hearing.
It was pointed out that shares of Amrapali Zodiac were ultimately purchased for Rs.140 crores by M/s
Neelkanth and M/s Rudraksha. It is pointed out by forensic auditors that there are two persons, namely,
Chandan Kumar, who is a peon of Mr. Anil Mittal, Statutory Auditor, and working in his office and another
one is Vivek Mittal, who is the nephew of Mr. Anil Mittal, and is doing petty jobs of sub- contractors and
having a monthly income of Rs.15,000/-. It is stated by the learned counsel appearing on behalf of M/s J.P.
Morgan that in one company, Chandan Kumar and Atul Mittal were Directors. M/s Neelkanth and M/s
Rudraksha are the private limited companies in which the abovementioned persons are named as Directors.
They are not having the capacity to give an amount of Rs,140 Crores to be paid to M/s J.P. Morgan.
This is a serious kind of fraud apparent from the aforesaid facts. On being asked, Mr. Anil Kumar Sharma has
shown reluctance to disclose about Atul Mittal, who was the Director of M/s Rudraksha along with Chandan
Kumar. It is apparent that it was not a fair transaction of sale. That fact is required to be gone into. Let Mr.
Anil Mittal and Directors of Amrapali Zodiac and Mr. Anil Sharma explain the situation by filing their
personal affidavits from where the money came to be paid to M/s J.P. Morgan, who managed the money and
how the companies were framed and for what purpose."
28. On 28.2.2019, this Court considered IA No.35430/2019 filed by Deputy Commissioner of Police, EOW,
Delhi Police, seeking permission to take into custody various Directors namely Anil Kumar Sharma, Shiv
Priya, and Ajay Kumar. This Court has passed the following order:
“I.A.No. 35430 of 2019 This application has been filed by the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Economic
Offences Wing, Delhi Police, seeking permission to arrest and take into custody various Directors, namely,
Anil Kumar Sharma, Shiv Priya, and Ajay Kumar. They are presently in the custody of Noida Police vide our
order dated 11.10.2018. We make it clear that the Delhi Police is free to arrest/take into custody any or all the
other Directors of Amrapali group of companies. Any order passed by this Court, in this case, shall not come
in their way to do so.
Let the Police investigate the entire gamut of the scenario of the various projects, as projected in this case and
various orders passed and investigate the entire matter. Prima facie, we find that the case requires serious
investigation in the facts projected by the Directors, CFO, and the statutory auditors.
The Police are directed to investigate the role of Mr. Anil Mittal, Statutory Auditor, and Mr. Chander Wadhwa,
CFO as well. The Police may interrogate them and find out their criminality, if any, in the matter.
Let various order sheets of this Court as well as the affidavits of Mr. Chander Wadhwa and Mr.Anil Mittal and
Directors of Amrapali Group of Companies indicating the operational methods of diversion of funds and
creation of companies be also furnished to the Deputy Commissioner forthwith.
The application is allowed.” This Court also issued other directions with respect to the persons who were
called by the Forensic Auditors but did not report. Other directions were also issued.
29. On 9.4.2019 we requested the parties to address this Court how to protect the interests of the buyers so that
they can get a clear title after completion of the projects. In view of the dues of Noida and Greater Noida
authorities and other secured creditors, such as banks, etc. how to work out equities in the circumstances and
requested the parties to address this Court. Amrapali group of companies to address how much investment
they have made in the project and what they have done with the money of the buyers and to inform us as to
diversion of the money of home-buyers, how to secure it and why they should not be suitably dealt with in
accordance with law for what they have done. In view of the aforesaid facts projected in various affidavits of
the Directors and the interim report of forensic auditors. This Court listed the case for hearing on various
issues. We have heard Forensic Auditors, Mr. Krishnan Venugopal, learned senior counsel and Mr. M.L.
Lahoty, learned counsel, on 30.4.2019. Thereafter, we further heard the matter on 1.5.2019. They concluded
the arguments. Mr. C.A. Sundaram learned senior counsel was also heard and the learned counsel on behalf of
Bank of Maharashtra and Bank of Baroda as well as Ms. Geeta Luthra and Mr. Gaurav Bhatia, learned senior
counsel on behalf of Amrapali group. On 2.5.2019 and on 8.5.2019 certain directions were issued. On
10.5.2019 arguments were further heard and the case was reserved for orders.
SUBMISSIONS
30. Mr. M.L. Lahoty, learned counsel appearing on behalf of 49,575 home buyers submitted that under section
8 of the Real Estate Regulation and Development Act, 2016 (for short, ‘the RERA’) and also in view of the
provisions contained in sections 13 and 14 of the U.P. Industrial Area Development Act, 1976 (for short,
‘the Industrial Development Act’), the lease deeds granted by Noida and Greater Noida authorities were
ordered to be cancelled. In the lease deed also, there is a specific stipulation as to cancellation clause in case of
cancellation and imposing penalty and for such other actions against the builder in case of default. Home
buyers further submitted that after payment of first 10% of the lease premium, Amrapali Group has not paid
any of the 20 half-yearly instalments from 2010 onwards. The Noida and Greater Noida authorities have been
liberal, and not taking any stringent action against Amrapali Group which had been mandated by virtue of the
provisions contained in the lease deed. The dues of Noida and Greater Noida authorities cannot be treated at
par with the dues of home buyers. Home buyers further submitted that so far as the dues of the banks are
concerned, they are not placed on any better footing and Forensic Auditors in their report have stated that but
for the connivance of the bank officials, the act of money siphoning on such large scale would not have taken
place. Banks have failed to monitor utilisation of the borrowed funds and they acted as mute spectators to the
diversion of funds by Amrapali Group of Companies, its Directors and officials. Mr. Lahoty, on behalf of
home buyers further submitted that the Reserve Bank of India has issued Master Circulars from time to time
since 2014 onwards as to the obligations of the Banks and specifically directed that banks must necessarily
monitor the ‘end use' of the loans granted by them and call for periodical reports thereof. In the case of
diversion and siphoning of loan funds, banks must invariably take action against defaulters. Reliance has been
placed on RBI's Master Circulars of July 2009, 2014 and 2015. In case after the cancellation of the leases, they
are not able to construct, they may enter into an arrangement with any reputed builder like NBCC or L&T, etc.
A roadmap thereof need be drawn to be monitored by a Monitoring Committee which duly represents the
interest of the home buyers, may also be directed to be constituted which will not only oversee the work but
also oversee the construction activities and also submit a report to this Court so that the needs of the home-
buyers are finally achieved. A further audit of connected companies may be ordered. Bank accounts with Bank
of Baroda are operationalised towards maintenance and electricity as families are residing in 21 Towers have
been regularly depositing the electricity and other dues in their accounts which have become defunct after the
discharge of IRP vide order dated 8.8.2018 passed by this Court. The amount be utilised for pending bills from
August to October 2018 towards electricity and maintenance services by nominating a Joint Signatory in place
of IRP.
31. Mr. Krishnan Venugopal, learned senior counsel appearing for home- buyers has urged that there is the
distinction between mortgage and charge as a mortgage involves the transfer of interest, whereas, in case of a
charge, there is no transfer of interest. He has further urged that non- production of relevant documents despite
the court order, leads to a presumption of an adverse inference. As Amrapali Group has failed to comply with
the court's order, an adverse inference may be drawn against them. He has also pressed into service public trust
doctrine and submitted that the State or the public authority which holds the property for the public or which
has been assigned the duty of grant of largesse, etc. acts as a trustee, and therefore, has to act fairly and
reasonably, promote public good and public interest. Public trust doctrine is a part of the law of the land. The
doctrine is a facet of Article 21 of the Constitution. The action has to be bona fide. Public property cannot be
transferred to private property in case it affects the public interest. General welfare and common good are to be
kept in view by the public authorities exercising public power and discharging public duty.
32. Mr. Krishnan Venugopal, learned senior counsel further urged that in view of the findings recorded by the
Forensic Auditors, section 8 of the RERA has to be invoked. He further submitted that even though Amrapali
was defaulting on payments of lease rents, authorities continued to allot further plots to them. The first lease
had been granted on 1.5.2007 and the last on 30.7.2010. Despite default, they continued to issue permission to
mortgage/NOCs for that purpose between 24.12.2009 and 27.2.2013, in spite of the fact that there was no
payment of premium and advance annual lease rent up to date. The authorities have acted in breach of clause 7
of the conditions of the lease deed, they failed to monitor the progress of the project to protect the interest of
the public.
33. In reference to banks, Mr. Venugopal submitted that banks were giving loans to finance Amrapali, in spite
of the fact that they were diverted to other accounts and not utilised for construction. Banks do not even have
effective mortgages because of NOCs. clearly, state that they would become effective only when Amrapali
makes up to date payment of the premium and advance annual lease rent, and under the conditional NOCs., the
banks were required to obtain confirmation from the authorities as to payment of premium and lease money for
the mortgage to become effective. The banks have not handed over copies of mortgage deeds despite orders.
Moreover, the banks have a second charge after all dues of the Noida and Greater Noida authorities are
realised. The authority's ownership rights over the plots are paramount. The public sector banks are also
subject to public trust doctrine to the extent that they are custodians of public funds and are beneficiaries of the
Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertaking) Act, 1970 and Banking Companies
(Acquisition and Transfer of Undertaking) Act, 1980 passed in pursuance of the Directive Principles
under Article 39(b) and (c) of the Constitution. The facts demonstrate the collusion between Amrapali
Authorities and the banks. The home buyers who invested their hard-earned money, cannot be cheated and
deprived of their money as well as their houses. Authorities cannot seek to recover any additional amount from
the home buyers. They must be directed to complete the construction by realising only the remaining dues
from home buyers under their agreements with Amrapali, by selling off unsold inventory of flats, etc. available
with it and by selling off excess land allotted to Amrapali. The Committees of home buyers must be set up for
each project to monitor the quality and progress of the construction as well as the costs involved so as to
ensure that contractors do not engage in fraud or inflate construction costs in the course of completing the
projects.
34. On behalf of the home buyers Association, it was submitted that by promoters of the real estate sector in
India from 2008-2009, home buyers have been promised the houses of which they have been deprived of on a
large scale in spite of the fact that they have paid a substantial amount of money. Construction has not
progressed and money has been diverted elsewhere. There is a charge of the money of the home buyers must
be treated as the highest priority. They have paid towards dues of Authorities also which amount has been
diverted. Banks and authorities have failed to discharge their duties. Banks have granted loans to the projects
in some cases which were not sanctioned even on the date of grant of loan. For example, Phase III of Amrapali
Adarsh Awas Yojana Project. Banks have released the complete payment amounts to the builder without the
construction having been reached even 10 to 20%. As such lending was not permissible. The current scenario
is that the construction of the various projects is stalled and the home buyers are without any hope of the
promised homes. Certain incumbents who have taken loan are compelled to repay the loan and money has
been siphoned out. As such appropriate relief be granted to home buyers in view of the facts found in the
report of the Forensic Auditors.
35. On behalf of the home buyers, reliance has been placed on the provisions contained in section 4(5) of the
U.P. Apartments (Promotion of Construction, Ownership, and Maintenance) Act, 2010 (for short, the ‘U.P.
Apartments Act, 2010’). It is provided that the completion of the construction works of a building as a whole
or the completion of an independent block of such building, as the case may be. The completion certificate can
be issued for the blocks which have been completed. Noida and Greater Noida authorities are not issuing NOC
for the reason that payment of land dues has not been made by the builder, for which authorities are also
responsible. The non-payment of dues by the builder should not come in the way as more than 9000 home
buyers are already residing in the buildings. Most of them have paid the entire amount to the promoter. Others
are waiting for the completion of buildings.
36. On behalf of Noida Authority, learned senior counsel submitted that public trust doctrine is not attracted to
the facts in the instant case as there is no breach of trust. The decision to transfer lease at 10% was the
carefully thought out policy of Noida approved by the State Government. It was applied uniformly to all and
not restricted only to the Amrapali Group. It was submitted that allotment of group housing plots is made by
Noida authority in accordance with the prevailing policies and rates which have kept changing with times. In
2007, the allottees were required to pay 10% of the total premium of the plot as reservation money, before
formal allotment letter was issued. Then, a further amount of 30% had to be paid within 60 days from the time
of allotment. Thus, 40% premium was required to be paid. Balance 60% had to be paid in eight half-yearly
instalments along with interest.
37. It was further submitted on behalf of the Noida Authority that primarily on account of the global recession
in the world economy, in the year 2008 a decision was taken to revise the rate of allotment money to 10%.
Thus, the total sum of 20% was to be paid before handing over possession. In the year 2009, the rate of
allotment money along with registration money was revised to 10% of the total premium for the possession to
be handed over. However, steps were taken to provide (i) facility of re-scheduling of payments in case the
allottees intended to complete his project as per agreed policy; (ii) to exit the project; (iii) moratorium of two
years on payment of balance premium; (iv) facility of sub-division of plots of area larger than 10 acres so as to
make the larger projects financially viable.
38. It was also submitted on behalf of Noida Authority that after 2005, a total of 114 plots had been allotted to
various group housing societies. 81 have been handed over the possession on payment of 10% of the total
premium. 29 projects, out of these 81, have been completed. Out of other 33 allotted earlier, 11 had been
completed, and 7 have obtained part- completion certificates. Noida Authority, being a responsible public
organisation, has been diligent in pursuing Amrapali Group, it has not taken the drastic recourse of terminating
the lease deed as that would entail demolition of the existing structures as per the provisions of the lease deed.
In terms of the lease, home buyers have no title or legal rights to possession of the flats they are occupying. As
the projects have been completed to some extent, it would have been unfair to leave the home buyers in the
lurch. The occupancy certificate is issued in accordance with the provisions of the New Okhla Industrial
Development Area Building Regulations, 2010 (for short, ‘the Regulations of 2010’). Clause 20.0 of the
Building Regulations requires the allottee to submit a notice of completion of the building, inter alia, with a
structural safety certificate, NOCs from the Fire Department, Explosives department and Environment
department. No building erected, re-erected, can be occupied in whole or in part unless occupancy certificate is
issued by the CEO of the Authority as per clause 20.1.1 of the Regulations. The lessee/promoter is entitled to
allot the dwelling unit on a sub-lease basis. However, he has to make the payment of premium of the plot to
Noida authority when permission to transfer built-up flats or part with possession of the whole or any part of
the building which has been constructed is granted. The physical possession of flats can be given to home
buyers only after execution of sub-lease deed and sale deed has also to be registered before actual physical
possession of the flat is handed over as required under the provisions of Registration Act, 1908. The
declaration required to be made under section 12 of the U.P. Apartments Act, 2010 is also to be filed.
39. It was further urged on behalf of the Noida Authority that the Noida Authority had the first charge
including those created in favour of banks and financial institutions. The mortgage could have been effected in
favour of Banks/financial institutions recognised by the RBI, National Housing Bank, HUDCO, New Delhi
and the charge of such institution shall be the second charge on the dwelling units, thus, being financed. The
permission to mortgage shall be effective only on making full payment of premium and up to date annual lease
rent of group housing society. An intimation shall be given to the Authority about the creation of the charge by
way of mortgage. The mortgage permission shall be granted as per the terms of the lease only on payment of
dues of authorities.
40. It is submitted that it is open to the authority to cancel or terminate the lease. In the case of
misrepresentation, suppression or violation of the conditions of lease and in the case of default and at the time
of cancellation, an amount equivalent to 25% of the total premium of the plot shall have to be forfeited and
possession of plot shall have to be resumed by Noida Authority with structure thereon. In the instant case, no
dues certificate had not been issued by the Noida authority nor any sub-lease deed has been executed. The
possession by various home buyers in respect of constructed flats is contrary to the provisions of the lease
deed. The builder could not have handed over the possession. Any occupation of flats by the home buyers
without compliance of mandatory provision of occupancy certificate and without payment of statutory dues,
both to Noida Authority and to the Collector of Stamps and without execution of tripartite sub-lease deed may
not be termed as legal and as such which could have resulted in their eventual eviction.
41. It was further submitted on behalf of the Noida Authority that pursuant to order dated 27.11.2017 passed
by this Court, on depositing 10% of the dues to issue completion certificate such NOC could not be issued and
the order passed by this Court has not been complied with by builder/promoter as such possession could not be
handed over. In spite of reiterating the aforesaid direction of this Court on 31.1.2018, it has not been complied
with by the promoter/leaseholder. It is submitted by the Noida Authority that its dues to Amrapali group
exceed Rs.2191.38 crores till 30.4.2019. It is in public interest to ensure payment of premium/lease money
with penal interest etc. so that the development of the various projects at Noida is not impeded. Prayer has
been made that in whatever manner practicable and by whatever scheme this Court may think fit and proper,
aforesaid dues of the authority may be secured and ordered to be recovered.
42. On behalf of Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority, it was submitted that its dues were
Rs.3,234.71 crores as on 15.1.2019 in respect of 5 group housing plots of Amrapali group. These dues inter
alia comprise of the amounts payable against the premium plus the penal interest for default, additional
compensation and interest thereon, the lease rent and interest thereon and time extension charges for each of
the five plots. Title in the flats can pass only by way of execution of a registered instrument. However, before
that procedural requirements pointed out on behalf of the Noida Authority have to be complied with. Once
completion certificate is issued, the rights in the flat will pass on to the flat buyers and then they would contend
that the dues of the authority should be recovered from the builders who have defaulted in making payment
and not the flat buyers. On the basis of that privity of contract, they would contend that the liability to make
payment of the premium and other dues payable to Greater Noida authority, by lessee/builder is between them
and they are not parties to the lease deed.
43. It is further submitted on behalf of Greater Noida Authority that even with regard to the issuance of
completion certificate for a part of the projects, the existing policy is that against the part-payment received,
completion certificate would be issued in the same proportion minus 10%, so that the financial interest of the
authority is protected. Therefore, sub- lease deeds too would be executed up to 90% of the proportion in which
part-payment has been received. It was further submitted by the Greater Noida Authority that section 19(10) of
RERA also provides for taking over of physical possession after issuance of completion certificate. The
provisions of the U.P. Apartments Act, 2010 are also similar as well the provisions in the lease deed.
44. It is further submitted on behalf of Greater Noida Authority that FAR admissible is 02.75 only and not
3.50. The differential FAR of 0.75 is not purchasable. The calculations made by Amrapali based on FAR of
3.50 is itself wrong. FAR has not yet been purchased by Amrapali group by depositing the charges and
submission of consent of two-thirds of the apartment owners. Under section 4(2)(1)(D) of RERA, 70% of the
amount received from home buyers is to be put in a separate account to be maintained in a scheduled bank and
is to be used towards construction and land cost. The land dues payable to Greater Noida authority constitute
an encumbrance as provided in section 4(1)(b) of the U.P. Apartments Act, 2010. As per section 11(4)(c) of
RERA, it is the duty of the promoters to certify that all dues and charges have been paid. Thus, it follows that
money received from the flat buyers is to be spent on construction and payment of land dues. Therefore,
payment of land dues cannot be denied to it. Land dues are in the nature of public money. Amrapali group is
bound to pay it. The amount is payable in instalments as such same is interest bearing for availing the facility
of payment in instalments as such the land cost payable increases. In case of default, penal interest follows.
There was no order passed by the Allahabad High Court for staying construction on the leased plots. Amrapali
Group was in possession of the allotted land and was proceeding with the construction. For 4 years, it has
prayed for zero periods of interest to which the group is not entitled. It would lead to unjust enrichment by
Amrapali as they have realised dues from home buyers and have not paid to the Authority. The order passed by
the NGT with respect to Okhla Bird Sanctuary case was not applicable to the land in question. The dues
payable to the authority are recoverable as the arrears of land revenue. The authority has the first charge. The
permission to the mortgage was conditional one, it has not been complied with, in particular, conditions B, C
and D. The mortgage had to be renewed every year and is subject to the payment of land premium, etc. The
Greater Noida authority has written numerous letters to Amrapali group of companies to make the payment of
its dues. In the case of Unitech, yet another Group, the Authority has cancelled the allotment which was
questioned in this Court. As the cancellation of the allotment in case of Amrapali could have led to greater
complications as construction had commenced with third-party interest created. It would have opened
floodgates to litigation. As such cancellation of lease deeds was not resorted to.
45. Ms. Geeta Luthra and Mr. Gaurav Bhatia, learned senior counsel appearing on behalf of Amrapali group of
companies, have urged that Amrapali group started its activities in the name of M/s. Ultra Home Construction
Pvt. Ltd. in the year 2003 with the purpose of providing low- cost housing to projects in Indirapuram
(Ghaziabad) Noida, Lucknow, Indore, Bhilai, and more than 15,000 flats were handed over by the developers
to flat owners in 5 different housing projects in Indirapuram and Greater Noida. The balance sheets of
Amrapali group of companies at 2007-08 shows that it had carried forward the money earned by the company
to launch the projects after 2009-10 upon allotment of plots by Noida and Greater Noida authorities in their
respective areas. Immediately after the allotment of land, the work was started and the Allahabad High Court
quashed acquisition. It had to be stopped as per the order passed by the Allahabad High Court. When in 2016
Amrapali group again started to infuse capital and manpower, proceedings were initiated in NCLT by Bank of
Baroda as against Amrapali Silicon City Pvt. Ltd. and M/s. Ultra-Home Constructions Pvt. Ltd. There were
legal impediments/force majeure conditions in completing the projects within the period given in the flat buyer
agreement. The Allahabad High Court finally decided the matter in Gajraj Singh & Ors. v. State of U.P. on
21.10.2011. The Patwari Village issue was pending before this Court till 2015. On 14.5.2015 this Court finally
decided the matter in the case of Savitri Devi v. State of U.P. It was an order passed by the National Green
Tribunal with respect to Okhla Bird Sanctuary which also hindered the work. Higher compensation was
ordered to be paid by the Allahabad High Court in 2011. The period of litigation ought to have been treated as
zero periods for the purpose of payment of dues by Noida and Greater Noida authorities. Amrapali Silicon City
was affected on account of litigation and land acquisition issues. The work of Leisure Valley, Dream Valley,
and Leisure Park were also affected. There was an issue of the approach road with the farmers with respect to
Sapphire Housing Project. Other projects were also affected due to farmers' agitation, want of proper roads,
etc. The authority was required to give electricity, sewer and water connections. Proper facilities were not
extended timely.
46. It was further submitted on behalf of Amrapali Group that a High- Power Committee has been constituted
by the State of U.P. A sum of Rs. 2,715 crores are to be paid to the authorities including the interest and
purchasable FSI costs. The outstanding of banks is Rs.985 crores. It was submitted that the projects are viable
in case some relief is granted towards land dues of authorities and dues of the banks. The joint inspection
indicated that substantial construction had been carried out. The cost of construction to complete the launched
projects, as per NBCC is Rs.6827 crores; whereas the cost as per Amrapali group is Rs.5630 crores.
Calculation of NBCC is wrong. The projects are divided into 3 categories: (i) where the allottees were living;
(ii) advanced stage of construction; and (iii) work is at a nascent stage. The amount defaulted by buyers is
Rs.511 crores, total receivables from them are Rs.5,332 crores. The encumbered and unencumbered assets can
be sold to complete the project. The valuation worked out by the DRT comes to Rs.7,353 crores considering
the maximum permissible FAR of 3.50. The order may be passed in respect of amounts due from Raipur and
Bhubaneswar Housing Board which are recoverable from them to deposit in Court. Certain suggestions have
also been made on behalf of Amrapali group for arranging the required funds. That home buyer may be
directed to pay the cost. Unsold inventory of the launched projects on sale would generate Rs.1,922 crores. In
case of any shortfall, there can be a sale of unencumbered assets of the company. Reputed builders may be
engaged for undertaking the construction of the various projects. Amrapali has spent Rs.10,630 crores as
against Rs.11,652 crores received from home buyers. As per the affidavits dated 16.5.2018 and 3.12.2018, the
total cash outflow is Rs.395 crores utilised by the group in the creation of assets whose current valuation as per
DRT is Rs.1200 crores. The Noida and Greater Noida authorities have partial registration policies as provided
in Building Regulations and the Act and an appropriate Committee may be constituted for supervision.
Amrapali group shall extend all help in the building of the projects.
47. With respect to the report of the Forensic Auditors, it has been submitted that there is no undervaluation in
booking the flats. The value of flats depends upon the situation etc. as the flats were booked at different times,
they have different prices as per the prevailing market. In certain cases, the customers took possession of
various Towers in partially unfinished conditions and managed the pending work by themselves. In some
projects, lifts were installed by the customers' associations. In some other cases, interiors of the flats were
finalised by the customers themselves. Amrapali group reduced the value of such flats in their books
accordingly.
48. With respect to other amounts recoverable from KMPA/relatives/Directors, as per the affidavit submitted
by Shiv Priya on 20.11.2018, Rs.4.3 crores were paid towards his taxes. The same has been adjusted against
the salary due of Rs.4.4 crores from various Amrapali group of companies. Salary of Rs.1.6 crores is
recoverable by Shiv Priya from Amrapali group of companies. As per the affidavit of Mr. Ajay Kumar,
Rs.1.21 crores were paid by the company towards his taxes out of his outstanding salary up to 31.3.2015.
Though his salary for the financial years 2016-18 is still to be mentioned in the books of accounts on account
of his due salary. A sum of Rs.25 lakhs has been paid by him to Ultra Home Construction Pvt. Ltd.; in
addition, a sum of Rs.25 lakhs paid to Yogesh Chand is duly debited in his ledger and as mentioned in his
affidavit.
49. With respect to Amrapali Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd., it was submitted that an advance to Directors of
Rs.113.54 crores was used by the Directors to purchase shares of Ultra Home Construction Pvt. Ltd. Ideally,
the shares should have been issued in the name of Amrapali Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. The money moved from
Amrapali Infrastructures Pvt. Ltd. to Ultra Home Construction Pvt. Ltd. Precast Factory’s valuation is Rs.179
crores. Mr. Anil Kumar Sharma has surrendered the shares in favour of Amrapali Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. to the
extent of INR 73.2 crores. Mr. Shiv Priya has surrendered the shares in Amrapali Infrastructure Pt. Ltd. during
2018-19 of Rs.35.1 crores.
50. With respect to Amrapali Hospitality Services Pvt. Ltd., it was submitted that the company gave Rs.6.62
crores to Directors as advances out of which Rs.6.55 crores were given to Mr. Anil Kumar Sharma and his
family. In the financial year 2017-18, Rs.2.25 crores were used by Mr. Anil Kumar Sharma for payment of
housing loan of Jay Pee Green Property. Rs.1.25 crores were deposited with this Court by way of Demand
Draft, Rs.0.85 crores were paid to settle the bank loan of Leisure Valley Villa and Rs.0.5 crores were
transferred for payment of TDS liability of Amrapali hospital.
51. With respect to Hi-Tech City Developers Pvt. Ltd., the Auditor's report indicates that a sum of Rs.4.24
crores was given as an advance to Mr. Anil Kumar Sharma in 2009-10 which was used by him for purchasing
shares of Ultra Home Construction Pvt. Ltd. Ideally, the shares should have been issued in the name of
Amrapali group of companies. No transfer of money was there. Mr. Anil Kumar Sharma had surrendered
shares in favour of Amrapali Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd., during the year 2018-19 but this has not been reflected in
the books of the company. With respect to cash in hand, there is no consistency in the report of the auditors.
Only Rs.9 crores were available in cash in various group companies. The entire amount was spent on payment
of wages due to various labours at different times. With respect to other recoverable advanced to various
parties amounting to Rs.234.31 crores, the details are not available in the report. These advances are against
genuine business transactions. There is a possibility that such expenses have not been booked and squared off.
52. With respect to the diversion of home buyers amount to the extent of Rs.3,500 crores and bogus billing of
Rs.1500-1600 crores, out of the total amount received from home buyers of Rs.11,652 crores would leave INR
6,652 crores for carrying out the existing construction at sites. The total sum available for construction
purposes comes to Rs.4,352 crores, after deducting the amount of payment to the authorities and banks of
Rs.1,000 crores and Rs.1,300 crores respectively. With respect to non-genuine purchases from suppliers,
though a sum of Rs.554 crores was given to the income-tax authorities, on appeal the error had been corrected
by the income-tax authorities. There was an error in the report of the forensic auditors. The report of the
forensic auditors as to non-existing companies is also not correct. It is further submitted that Gaurisuta
Infrasolution Pvt. Ltd., which manufactures PVC doors and windows had business transactions with Amrapali
group, payment/advances were made to them. It is a fact that parties are related. It does not mean that all
transactions are dubious. Law does not prevent such transactions. The short term and long-term loans to third
parties were not for diverting loan funds and home buyer funds to group companies.
53. With respect to Auditors’ list of 27 companies formed for the purpose of routing the cash of the companies,
were formed before demonetisation. With respect to J.P. Morgan Property Mauritius Company-II, Amrapali
Zodiac Developers Pvt. Ltd. transferred money to another company to buy- back stake in J.P. Morgan but did
not do it directly as share buy-back rules did not permit such transactions. It may be maximum violations of
the Companies Act but is not a diversion of money. With respect to FEMA, it is submitted that again it is a
violation of ECB guidelines but again it was not a case of diversion of money. Money was needed for
construction, therefore, arrangement with J.P. Morgan was made.
54. With respect to doubt of Forensic Auditors as to the genuineness of interest paid by Amrapali Silicon City
Pvt. Ltd. to IPFFI and claiming interest @ 17% which is very high, it was submitted that rate of
interest depends upon the money lending transactions and is not illegal or prohibited in law.
55. With respect to charging for professional services and fee by Directors, it was stated that a person
rendering professional services should have a membership of professional bodies and have some certificate of
practice. A lot of companies pay a professional/consulting fee to outsiders to assist them in their business.
Amrapali group has also paid salaries and consultation fees to Directors as they were providing their expertise
and skill. Ultimately prayer had been made to evolve some mechanism for completion of housing projects.
56. On behalf of Royal Golf Link City Projects Pvt. Ltd., it is submitted that a loan of Rs.50 crores or
Rs.48,52,05,100 was paid by Ultra Home Constructions Pvt. Ltd. to Royal Golf. Interest @ 9% amounting to
Rs.5,83,42,977 has been paid to Ultra Home. Subsequently, the agreement has been entered into to repay
Rs.50,46,78,022 by 31.3.2017 or in lieu thereof 30 Villas have to be allotted by Royal Golf to Ultra Homes.
This Court has attached 30 Villas allotted to Ultra Home. It is ready to give 30 Villas by 30.4.2021 or to refund
the amount of Rs.48,46,78,022 in 4 equal quarterly instalments in full and final settlement of all claims of
Amrapali group.
57. On behalf of Bank of Baroda, it has been submitted that Forensic Auditors have made adverse comments
without any basis. Bank of Baroda had deployed suitable methods to monitor the utilisation of funds. No
diversion of funds was permitted by Bank of Baroda. Monitoring of the loan was done and before sanction of
the loan, the net worth of the promoters/Directors of ASCPL was ascertained. Bank of Baroda relied upon a
letter dated 29.7.2010 from Noida to ASCPL. The term loan agreement was executed amongst ASCPL, Bank
of Baroda, Bank of Maharashtra and Oriental Bank of Commerce "Consortium" for a term loan of Rs.300
crores. After execution of due documents and deeds of corporate guarantee issued in favour of Bank of Baroda,
corporate guarantees were submitted by Ultra Homes Construction, Jotindra Steels and Tubes Ltd. along with
Vidhyashree Buildcon. Pvt. Ltd. RoC search report of guarantors was also obtained. NOC of Noida dated
21.2.2012 for mortgaging the project site to procure a term loan from the consortium was also obtained. A
detailed project report was issued by Solomon Consulting Pvt. Ltd. There was the appointment of independent
lender's Engineer and thereafter accounting was done, post-disbursal of loan by Bank of Baroda. The money
was released on the basis of lenders Engineers advice of Rs.49 crores out of Rs.55 crores. Thus, there was no
lack of due diligence and considering the progress of construction, steps had been taken by the Bank of Baroda
to protect its interests after the account became NPA. Active steps were taken to recover the amount. The
similar mechanism had been adopted for Amrapali Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. With respect to Ultra Homes
Construction Pvt. Ltd., also a loan of Rs.75 crores was sanctioned out of which Rs.65.84 crores were disbursed
for the construction and development of an Integrated Information Technology Park, (IT Park), Hotel,
Commercial complex, service apartments and residential complex on Plot No.59, Sector Knowledge Park-V,
Greater Noida, which were executed by Mr. Anil Kumar Sharma, Mr. Ajay Kumar, Mr. Shiv Priya and Mr.
Madan Mohan Sharma. Amrapali Zodiac Developers Pvt. Ltd. was granted a loan of Rs.75 crores. It was not
utilised for payment of the cost of land or for payment of construction cost. The amount has been repaid and
the account has been closed. The money may have been routed through various suppliers and contractors. The
remittance of money is nothing but an example of due conduct of business. With respect to the release of the
corporate guarantee of M/s. Jotindra Steel and Tubes Pvt. Ltd., it is submitted that they were unable to infuse
share capital as required and seemed unable to do so in the future as well. The shares due to M/s. Jotindra Steel
and Tubes Pvt. Ltd. were also allotted to M/s. Ultra-Homes Construction Pvt. Ltd. Thus, the Bank of Baroda
granted the request for release of the corporate guarantee in favour of M/s. Jotindra Steel and Tubes Pvt. Ltd.
Amrapali group had the right to mortgage the property as per the mortgage deed. There was no bank charge on
the property mortgaged by Amrapali group. As per clause 15 of the mortgage deed, the buyer shall have no
right after paying all amounts. The developer shall continue to have full authority over the flat unless a
registered deed is executed in favour of the allottee. It is also submitted that the home buyers are not secured
creditors. The home buyers were to acquire the premises on sub-lease basis which was never intended or stated
anywhere that a sale would take place. The allottee shall not have any lien or interest on the flat unless sub-
lease deed is executed. Therefore, they are not secured creditors, they have no right, title or interest or lien on
the basis of allotment from flat buyer agreement. It is further submitted that the agreement does not create any
rights in praesenti with a promise to enter into a future agreement. It does not create any right, title, interest or
claim in the immovable property. In the absence of registration of document under the Registration Act, no
rights are created in the immovable property in question under section 49 of the Registration Act.
58. With respect to RERA provisions, it has been submitted by Bank of Baroda that section 11(4) of RERA
deals with the interaction between repayment to secured creditors and rights of allottees. Sub-section (h)
of section 11(4) states that the promoter shall not create a mortgage or charge after an agreement to sell has
been executed. Therefore, the promoter is permitted to create such mortgage or charge prior to the execution of
an agreement to sell. Section 4(2)(1) of RERA requires the promoter to disclose the prior encumbrance to the
real estate authority. Under section 34(b) it is required to publish and maintain a website of records. Section
19(4)(1) of RERA provides that if the promoter fails to complete or is unable to give possession of an
apartment, plot or building, the rights of allottees are restricted to receive the compensation from the promoter.
The rights of allottees under section 19 of RERA can be contrasted with the right of the mortgagee who
secured creditors under section 58 of the Transfer of Property Act, 1882. The RERA is restricted to protect the
rights and interests of the allottees from the promoters and developers. RERA recognises and protects the
rights of the lenders and does not in any manner take away any right under the existing statutes like the T.P.
Act, SARFAESI, etc. RERA has not brought any change in the nature of the rights of home buyers. The Bank
is entitled to receive its money along with interest in the event of failure to repay by builder/ promoter. IN RE:
FORENSIC AUDITORS
59. The Forensic Auditors have submitted their report running into eight volumes. It has been observed that the
Amrapali Group was started in 2003 by Mr. Madan Mohan Sharma. Later on, it was managed by his son Mr.
Anil Sharma. He gradually expanded his team and Mr. Shiv Priya, Mr. Ajay Kumar, Mr. Nishant Mukul, Mr.
Chander Wadhwa, Mr. Mohit Gupta, Mr. Adhikari Das, and others joined in. By 2010, the Amrapali Group
was leading real estate development firms, promising to offer luxury and comfort. In the beginning, the
Amrapali Group has constructed and completed certain projects and earned the goodwill of the general public
in the real estate business. The Amrapali Group used unfair means to promote themselves. It made false
promises to lure the public to invest in its projects, purposefully delayed construction, cheated home-buyers for
the title of flats and trapped home-buyers in rental returns. The Amrapali Group floated several companies.
The public invested their hard earned money in Amrapali projects and the shareholders used these funds
to infuse capital in other companies/entities. Home buyers were cheated by making false promises/claims for
example selling of flats which were not even part of the master plan of projects or unapproved in the master
plan, double booking of the same flat by different customers. The homebuyers funds were diverted to other
companies/directors through payment of professional fees, by way of booking of bogus bills of Rs.837 crores,
by selling flats as undervalued prices in book and received differential market value in cash, by paying
commission and brokerage on bogus booking of flats and by way of granting inter-corporate deposits of
Rs.3,000 crores to related entities and Rs.500 crores to unrelated entities/trusted partners for ultimately
diverting funds to unapproved uses. SUMMARY OF REPORT OF FORENSIC AUDIT
60. The summary of report submitted by Forensic Auditors in the Court is as under:
1. Brief Introduction Amrapali Group started its operations in the year 2003 in Delhi. It was started by Mr.
Madan Mohan Sharma who managed it for a brief period. Thereafter the operations of the Group were
managed by his son - Mr. Anil Sharma. Gradually, he expanded his team and Mr. Shiv Priya, Mr. Ajay Kumar,
Mr. Nishant Mukul, Mr. Chander Wadhwa, Mr. Mohit Gupta, Mr. Adhikari Das and other trusted
partners/executives joined in. The Group was into the business of construction of residential complexes,
townships, offices, commercial complexes. The Group built good reputation in the public and launched several
projects in various cities in India. By 2010, the Group was a leading real estate development firms in India and
particular in North India, promising to offer luxury and comfort in every project that it takes up. Subsequently,
Mr. Mahender Singh Dhoni became brand ambassador of the Group.
To achieve good standing in the eyes of public, the Group used unfair means to promote themselves. The
Group made false promises to lure public to invest in its projects, purposefully delayed construction, cheated
homebuyers over title of flats, trapped homebuyers in rental returns, sold flats at exorbitantly low prices and
recovered market price in cash from them, among other unfair means adopted by them. The Group
floated several companies through its directors, staff, trusted partners which were incorporated solely to divert
homebuyers funds. The Group collaborated with external parties like JP Morgan in contravention of FEMA
and distributed returns along with principal amount, even though it did not book gains within the business of
the company. Similarly, it collaborated with several other third parties and invested in other projects and built a
cycle of returns in the form of unaccounted cash. The Group treated moneys received from home buyers as its
own capital and used this money for investing in exclusively personal purposes, for example in constructing
Amrapali hospital, hotels, malls, making movies etc. The Group booked bogus expenses and routed funds to
trusted partners. The Group also used homebuyers funds for building personal properties, investment in mutual
funds, expenses in daughter’s wedding, purchase of luxury cars, watches, building luxurious houses for
directors etc. The Promoters diversified to different verticals i.e. Education, Entertainment (in making movies),
FMCG, infrastructure, Shopping Malls, technology parks, hotel etc. from the diverted Home Buyers funds.
The Promoters didn’t invest any paisa in such verticals and the whole empire was created out of the diversion.
The Promoters created a web of more than 150 companies (Page No. 16-19 Volume I) for routing the funds
and creating assets. About 100 Companies were under the supervision and control of promoters used mainly
for the purpose of diversion of funds. The Directors and Shareholders of these Companies were benami and
were the trusted junior employees of promoters. CFO and the Statutory Auditors.
It is observed that the Company, i.e. management, CFO, the Statutory Auditors and key managerial persons
deliberately and for reasons best known to them did not prepare the accounts till 31st March, 2018 or thereafter
as nobody wanted to let anybody know where the funds moved from 31.3.2015 onwards. In absence of Book
of Accounts, we are constrained to report that the management deliberately withdrew the Bank Balances for
making payments to some person and brought down the huge bank balance to negligible amount.
The management has diverted the Home Buyers’ funds from one Company to another Company in a very
clever, pre-planned and clandestine manner. The management could not have done this without the full support
of its CFO and the Statutory Auditors. As per the submissions made, many companies were controlled by CFO
and the Statutory Auditors to which huge funds have been transferred. It can therefore, be easily said that both
CFO and the Statutory Auditor were Master Mind behind these types of planning for diversion and the misuse
of funds. It may be important to mention here that funds were transferred from one Company to another and to
third and to fourth and so on thereby absolutely confusing any person to find out the real trail where the money
has gone, since there are more than 100 Companies through which these funds have been routed over the
period.
2. HISTORY OF ALLEGATIONS Bank of Baroda and several other banks filed a petition before NCLT
under section 7 of the Code for triggering Corporate Insolvency Resolution process in the matter of Amrapali
Group Companies. Homebuyers filed petition seeking construction and possession of around 42000 flats
booked in Amrapali Group On 6th September 2018, Supreme Court appointed Mr. P K Aggarwal and Mr.
Ravi Bhatia as joint forensic auditors to audit into the matter. ACCOUNTING PACKAGE The group was
using Tally till March, 2015 for all of its group companies. In April 2015, it introduced Far Vision an ERP
which was not implemented properly. The opening balances were not properly entered. In November 2016, the
group left half way Far vision and started recording partial transaction in tally.
To avoid the traceability, of the transactions, the Promoters and CFO and Adhikari (G.M Accounts) recorded
the financial transactions up to March 2015 in Accounting Package tally, then shifted to FARVISION from
April 2015 and continued till March 2016, and thereafter partially recorded transaction in tally and a for a few
companies in FARVISION and thereafter in tally. This was intentionally plan. The companies of the group
stopped getting the annual accounts prepared and filing returns to Roc and Income tax.
3. Auditors The Following Firms carried out the Audit of the Group Companies during the period:
Purchase bills have been accounted for in the books of accounts without receipt of physical goods and
purchase bills have been accounted for of suppliers who do not exist. There was an Income Tax search and
seizure on 9th September, 2010 and 7th August, 2013. During the search held on 7th August, 2013, it was held
by the Income Tax Authorities that purchases are being made from bogus suppliers without receiving the
goods physically. The total amount of purchases from such suppliers as observed by the Income Tax
department amounted to Rs.842.42 Crores approximately.. In order to confirm the genuineness of these
suppliers and a few other suppliers we have sent written communication/ letters by speed post to them in order
to confirm the transactions with the Amrapali Group of Companies. Most of these letters have been received
back with the remarks “No such firm exists at the specified address”. In addition to above, there is no system
of calling quotations for purchases and there is no internal control with respect to inventory. We have spotted
out further certain non-genuine supplies as per details given below:
(i) M/s B S Promotors There have been sales to M/s B S Promoters amounting to Rs. 21.15 Crores during the
period 2013-16 from one Company of Amrapali Group and the same goods were re-purchased into another
Company of Amrapali Group at a margin of 5% approximately. These transactions seem to be mere
accommodation entries, where all purchase/ sales are recorded on a single day only. Further, it was also
explained that M/s B S Promotors have made the sales against Bank Letter of Credit which has been
discounted by them from their bankers. This seems to be a case of manipulation with the banks also since there
is no movement of goods but entries within the Amrapali Group only. Further, it is observed the balance
outstanding of INR 5.11 Crores due to the B S Promotors as on 31st March, 2016, has been adjusted against
payment made by home buyers directly to the B S Promotors and by allotting a flat to M/s B S Promotors.
However, the authorized representative of the B S Promotor has refuted this fact vehemently and asserted that
it has not received any payment from the home buyers of the Amrapali Group, nor it has received any flat.
Thus, the flat allotted to B S Promoters on paper needs to be attached and put to sale. Moreover, a sum of INR
1.06 crores as 5% of the margin earned by M/s B S Promoters needs to be recovered from him as they have
neither received goods nor supplied any good and only acted as Billing agent for which they need not be
claiming INR 1.06 crores as their margin.
(ii) Kanodia Cements While scrutinizing the purchase bills of this supplier it was noted that the slips of Weigh
Bridge in the case of purchase of Bajri trucks show time interval of 4-5 Minutes only. This doesn’t seem to be
possible that a full truck of Bajri takes only 4-5 minutes to enter into the site and come back on the weigh
bridge again with empty truck in 4-5 minutes. No satisfactory explanation has been furnished by the
management regarding this issue. Sample of such instances have been enclosed below:
As these bills of Kanodia Cements are prima facie held to be bogus, the entire sum of INR 11.69 Crores
booked as purchases from Kanodia Cements should be recovered from them or from the Management for
inflating their purchase by debiting bogus invoices. Bogus expense and cash surrendered in income tax search
Cash has been surrendered by the Amrapali group in the first Income Tax search conducted on 9th September,
2010. No source of this cash has been explained by the management.
According to the Balance sheet of Amrapali Sapphire Developers Private Limited examined by us, cash
surrendered is shown as miscellaneous income in the profit and loss account during 2010-11 amounting to
Rs.1.39 Crores.
It is further submitted that in the second search conducted by Income tax Authorities on 7th August, 2013, the
Amrapali group had surrendered an additional income of Rs.125 crores. Both these facts clearly depict that
Amrapali group was having inflow of unaccounted cash collected from either the Home Buyers or collected
cash from Bogus purchases made or by advancing money to various parties and taking cash from them.
While scrutinizing the Audited Financial Statements of the Companies for the Financial Year 2013-14, it is
observed that no additional income has been shown. There is only jugglery of accounting transactions where
sales have been shown by way of part completion method and the relevant cost is also debited to this part
completion sale by changing the Accounting Method which was being followed by the Amrapali Group of
companies in the earlier years. This method of accounting was changed for 2 financial years only i.e. for
Financial Year 2012-13 and Financial Year 2013-14. This method was changed just to make adjustment in
accordance with the letter of surrender. In fact, there is no surrender of additional income, it only amounts to
preponement of sale being shown in these years instead of it in the later years.
Cash has also been surrendered in the first search conducted on 9th September, 2010 and no source of this cash
has been explained by the management. This clearly explains that there was flow of un-accounted cash from
various sources to the Amrapali Group of Companies. A note was also stated in the Audited Financial
Statements for the financial year 2010-11 as follows:
“Note 6 (A) During the F.Y. 2010-11 Income Tax Search & Seizure operation conducted by the Income Tax
Department on the company and company has surrendered a total income of Rs. 13,893,500 i.e. Rs.
10,043,500 for the F.Y. 2009-10 and Rs. 3,850,000 for the F.Y. 2010-11. Accordingly, the total income
includes the above said income.” Thus, it is can be easily inferred that the company has been regularly taking
cash from its various home buyers but not recording these cash entries in the Books of Accounts. (Volume –I
Page No. 205) It is unclear how the surrender of Rs.125 crore made during the Financial Year 2013-14 has
been accepted by the Income Tax Authorities. In fact, no additional income has been shown on this search.
Moreover, against the additions relating to Bogus Purchases made in the Assessment order for the Financial
Year 2013-14, the Commissioner of Income Tax (Appeal), Central Circle has deleted all these additions. We
are informed by the management that no further appeal has been preferred by the department before the
Income tax Appellate Tribunal as they have no idea of the same so far.
The bills booked and payments made were just accommodation entries. Many of the parties are not traceable
and when we requested the Amrapali Group Management to produce the persons/entities to ascertain the
veracities of the claims, they didn’t co-operate. It appears Prima-Facie that the bogus invoices were booked
and cash was taken from these parties. We are of the opinion that if we confront the recipient of the purported
charges then last recipient would flatly deny.
It is pertinent to note that Shri Ajay Kumar Aggarwal of BSBK Group in a statement recorded under section
132(4) of the Income Tax Act has admitted that he provided accommodation/bogus bills. Till the date of
writing this report the amount so identified for bogus bills is Rs.837.2 crore. Further, the supplies by Jotindra
Steel and Tubes and Mauria Udyog Ltd, having common directors with Amrapali Group Companies, are
prima-facie bogus by nature and are under examination amounting to Rs.450 crore. (Refer Annexure No. S 4
Page no 2827 Supplementary report).
Land Development Charges A sum of Rs.7.3 crore has been debited to this account on 31st March, 2013 for
which the supporting relevant documents are not made available to us for our verification. This amount needs
to be recovered from the Directors as there is no supporting evidence or voucher and it is just a book entry.
Total bogus expenses as on date of report have been ascertained to be Rs. 842.42 crore.
Double booking of expense It has been observed that brokerage amounting to Rs 0.25 crore was paid twice;
once to HDFC Realty and again to Mr. Alok Ranjan c/o SSS Enterprises on account of same flat bookings in
Amrapali Sapphire Developers Private Limited during the FY 2019-10. Mr. Sanjay Kumar, proprietor of SSS
Enterprises has already conveyed to GM Finance of Amrapali Group by way of speed post that fake bill for
brokerage has been raised under his name by Mr. Alok Ranjan. This amount of Rs.0.25 crore should be
recovered from Alok Ranjan/ the Management for booking of double expense. (Volume 1 – Page no 213)
Unsupported Cash Payments The Company has made unusual cash payments by transferring the cash to the
site cash during the financial year 2016-17 by way of vouchers which are not supported/authenticated by the
site cash in charge. It seems that all these entries have been manipulated to use the cash to decrease the balance
as on 08/11/2016 being the date of demonetization. Some instances are as under:
Further cash payments are being made to number of parties amounting to Rs.20,000 or less which are not
supported by payee’s receipts on daily basis. Thus, these payments are not genuine. (Volume I- Page 223) It is
observed that the cash balance available on 8th November 2016 was partly deposited into bank and huge
amounts were not deposited into bank and was used for payments to staff, suppliers, vendors etc. It is
worthwhile to mention that it was not permitted to use Specified Bank Notes (SBN-500, 1000 denomination
Notes) for making payments to these parties.
Further there has been an Income tax Survey on 17/11/2016. We understand Income Tax Authorities have
recorded the statement of Directors and also taken the Inventory of Cash in hand as on that date. A copy of the
statement recorded and detail of inventory of Cash in hand is not made available to us.
Gold bar purchased from Yashika Diamonds It has been observed that the Group Companies purchased Gold
bar, other forms of gold worth Rs.5.88 crore. The same has been booked as festival expenses. This does not
seem to be a normal business transaction but in the nature of personal expenses. Thus, this amount should be
recovered from the management of the company.
5. Negligence and non- monitoring by bankers In view of our detailed report attached, we wish to submit here
that the whole process of transfer of funds from one Company to another Company to a third Company and so
on and so forth on the same dates would not have been possible without active support by the Bankers. The
Bankers, in our opinion, turned a Blind Eye to the various transfer of funds from one account to another for
reasons best known to them. They didn’t inquire the huge transfer of funds from various accounts which were
being routed every day. Had they been slightly more vigilant to monitor and control transfer of funds, the
Management would have not dared to launder the money from one Company to another according to their
whims and fancies and the Bankers are solely responsible for the negligence on their part.
Banks did not do any monitoring that whether the funds disbursed were used for approved purposes or not.
The loan sanctioned as term loan were diverted on the very same day of receipt. The land payment were not
paid etc. Bank of Maharashtra – Term Loan has been released by transferring the amount to the Current
account during the financial year 2009-10 to 2012-13. There has been no monitoring by the bank to ensure the
end use of utilization of the funds.
This amount was paid from the Current account for other than business activities of this Company.
It is observed that there was no monitoring done by the officials of Bank of Maharashtra, Andhra Bank and
other banks by releasing of term loan to the Company. Even basic checks as required by the Bank were
forgone and not ensured by the Bank Officials regarding the end utilization of the term loan funds for the
purpose for which they were granted. It seems that the Bank officials overlooked all these important aspects
and granted these loans to them without going into any technical requirements as relating to release of Term
Loan facilities to a borrower. The banks acted as mute spectator to unapproved diversion which was almost
happening evidently in all banking transactions.
Optionally Convertible Debentures ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company Limited had given a sum of
INR 74 crores approximately on account of debentures issued by Amrapali Sapphire Developers Private
Limited during the financial year 2011-12. These debentures carried interest rate @ 17% Per annum. There has
been a gross non-compliance of Investors cum-shareholders agreement dated 16th Day of December, 2010
with respect to following: a. Non appointment of directors b. Non operation of bank account by joint signatory
of investor c. Non utilization of funds as per clause no. 7.5 of Investment cum Shareholders Agreement dated
16th December, 2010. d. Sale of flats at less than Rs 3,420 per square feet of saleable area and many other
clauses of this agreement neither followed nor ensured by the Investor.
It is very clear that a Debenture Subscription Agreement and Investment cum Shareholders Agreement both
dated 16th day December, 2010 were merely sham documents which were never complied with and both i.e.
Amrapali group of Companies and ICICI Prudential Asset Management Company Limited were in connivance
with each other in diversion of funds for non-specified purposes.
Foreign investment The company has received the sum of Rs. 140 Crores during the financial year 2012-13
from IPFFI Singapore PTE Limited under Foreign Direct Investment Scheme. As per FEMA rules this amount
was to be invested in Real Estate construction projects only. The amount received in Axis Bank of Rs.85
Crores was transferred to Amrapali Centurian Park Pvt. Ltd. (ACPPL) as under:
ACPPL on receiving Rs.85 Crores, allotted Equity Shares worth Rs. 85 lakhs to ASCPL and balance Rs.84.15
Crores were treated as Share Premium Account. There is no Valuation Report available as to how this share
premium of Rs. 84.15 Crores has been calculated. This transfer of fund by ASCPL to ACPPL is absolutely
violative of FDI Rules and Agreement.
The Second amount received in BOB Escrow Account was transferred from 8.8.2012 to 28.9.2012 on various
dates in the Account of BOB, Sansad Marg Branch, and New Delhi and also used for payment of Term Loan
Instalments of OBC and Bank of Maharashtra for repayment of their Term Loan instalments.
It will therefore, be observed from the above, that the Company (ASCPL) did not use money for the project for
which it was received from IPFII Singapore but transferred Rs.85 Crores to Amrapali Centurian Park Pvt. Ltd.
and Rs.55 Crores to repay Bank Loan Instalments and Repay the outstanding creditors provided for in the
books and standing in the books. The said payments made by ASCPL are, therefore, in contravention of FDI
norms and rules and for which the money was brought in India.
Moreover, ASCPL has paid interest of Rs.58.81 Crores @ 17% (which is a highly abnormal rate) so far to
IPFII, Singapore during the last 3 years.
b) As per Schedule 4 of the agreement CCD’s (Compulsory Convertible Debenture) were subject to the
following terms and conditions.
1) On expiry of 5 years from the date of allotment, the CCD shell be fully monetarily and compulsorily
converted into class B shares of the company
2) The CCD’s shall be converted into such number of class B shares arrived that by dividing the aggregate face
value of CCD’s by Rs.2,734.30.
But these CCD’s were not converted into class B shares as per agreement but entered into another agreement
to extend the term of CCD’s from 5 years to 7 years. By this way , The fund has continued to be a creditor
otherwise after conversion to equity, it will not be eligible for interest and principal. Current liabilities not
payable Security deposits from contractors and intercorporate deposits accepted from non group companies are
in the nature of unsecured loans. There have been no business transactions with the company except movement
of funds. The list of such liabilities is under preparation which are not payable.
Inter-corporate deposits accepted by the Group are Non-Interest- bearing unsecured loans. There are no
business transactions with these companies. It is not understood as to why a person will give interest free loans
without any considerations. Thus, we are of the view that these are accommodation entry only in lieu of
consideration given to them indirectly by the management.
Hence, we are of the view that all the aforesaid amounts are not payable.
In our opinion, this is a case of Money Laundering as the generic term of Money Laundering is defined to
describe the process by which Criminals disguise the original ownership and control the proceeds of the
criminal conduct by making such proceeds to have derived from a legitimate source.
Money Laundering is the process of concealing the origin of money obtained illegally by passing it through a
complex sequence of Banking transfers or commercial transactions. The main process is accounting for the
proceeds without raising the suspicion of law enforcement agencies. In the instant case too, Amrapali Group of
Companies have defied all laws to transfer small and big amounts from one account to another to a third and so
on and so forth on a single day with the connivance of the Bank officials and financial institution officials and
thereby Committed act of Money Laundering on a large scale.
6. Lands allotted to consortium and flats sold to homebuyers Several companies were formed with consortium
partners which were just dummy companies and were part and parcel of Amrapali group. To comply with the
condition of minimum 3 partners, these companies were created in the names of office boys and peons.
Technically the allotments at the initial stage itself were void ab-initio. In most of the companies, the amount
received from homebuyers was sufficiently more than the amount spent on construction and for payment of
land. Had the promoters paid amount received from homebuyers to the authorities on time there would not
have been any liability of land dues. Further there was no need to avail any loan from banks, Private equity
funds as well as from investors. The sole objective of taking loan was to divert the funds to other ventures to
create assets in the name of family members, make movies, to satisfy the ambitious desires of family members
and to build hospital. Villas were bought at tourist destinations for fun at the expense of middle class and low
income group peoples abodes. Many parties joined them in the looting of hard earned money of homebuyers to
take their share of the cake in the form of unbelievable return on investment, profits, land, FSI and flats and
facilities at throwaway prices. Bogus expenses were booked and the promoters were having no fear of the law
of the land. They could execute many transactions of transfer of properties, booking of expenses, funds
transfer, even when the petition was accepted and was pending for disposal before the Honourable Supreme
Court. Companies in which land was allotted to consortium partners are as under:
• Amrapali Homes
• Amrapali Grand
• Amrapali Eden Park Developers Pvt Ltd - Iftikar
Ahmed and
(i) There is no substance in the nature of transactions carried on by the company. The funds are merely routed
from one entity to another for hidden objective.
(ii) Banks were financing not the construction activity but loans and advances to third parties.
(iii) Mr. Rakesh Mahajan and Mr. Ifthikar Khan were grossly involved in the wrongdoings in the company’s
project and equally conspired in the delay and diversion of home buyers funds and they being 49%
shareholders and active directors in the company should be held responsible for the deficit in completion of the
project amounting to Rs.20 crore. Further, Amrapali Infrastructure had given an advance of Rs.1.5 crore to
Nirala Infracity Ajmer Pvt Ltd - a project controlled by Rakesh Mahajan and Iftikar Ahmed. This amount is
recoverable from Nirala Infracity Ajmer Pvt Ltd.
7. Companies created solely for the purpose of routing funds The intention of Amrapali Group was to divert
funds to other projects/income sources in the name of family members of the promoter and the trusted
employees, friends of the promoters as well of the executives, auditors and their relatives. For this purpose,
several companies were incorporated for routing funds. These companies did not have any material transaction
as per the main object for which they were incorporated and did not have business since their incorporation.
These companies did not have any employees also. These companies are shell companies used only to route
interest free funds from one company to another. List of such companies identified so far is as under:
a) Jhamb Finance & Leasing Private Limited - The company didn’t have any operations/income/expenses
except for FY 2014-15 and had only movement of funds from one related party/interested party to the other. It
means the company was used merely for routing the funds and not for doing any business.
Since incorporation, loans (liability) and loans & advances (asset) increased as under, without booking of any
expense/income:
It is pertinent to note that starting from the FY 2015-16, the loans given and taken increased three folds
without having any corresponding increased on the income and assets side on account of interest. Whereas
starting from FY 2015-16, the employees started leaving the organization and the construction at sites was at
standstill. The directors in the company are having no knowledge or an iota of idea about the transactions
carried out. The company’s operation were under the controlled and supervision of CFO Chander Wadhwa.
Further, it received Rs.18.95 crore from Suspense- unidentified persons/parties and paid Rs.24.41 crore to
Suspense- unidentified persons/parties, leaving balance payable of Rs.5.46 crore to Suspense- unidentified
persons/parties. The said transactions of Rs.18.95 crore details were not made available to us.
b) Gaurisuta Infrastructure Private Limited – It lent and received funds from several parties without doing any
business. Details of Rs.25 crore received from third parties are as under:
The above companies were used for the purpose of money laundering and required a detailed investigation.
Further the amount as shown above is not payable to the party as indicated against. None of the parties as
above has lodged any claim so far therefore it strengthens our charge.
As on 31st March 2017, the company is having interest free loans and advances amounting to Rs.703 crore
without any movement with a paid up share capital of merely Rs.0.01 crore and the directors are employees
and junior employees of statutory auditors. The company is used as a conduit in diverting home buyer funds to
Amrapali Healthcare (Noida Hospital) and buying shares in different group companies from the funds of home
buyers. The entire shareholding should be attached and be made up for sale.
c) Neelkanth Buildcraft Private Limited - It was formed in the year 2013 having a capital of Rs.0.01 crore for
the specific purpose of buying shares from JP Morgan. Mr Chandan Kumar, director of Neelkanth Buildcraft
Private Limited is an office boy in the office of Statutory Auditor of Amrapali Group, Mr Anil Mittal and the
other director Mr Vivek Mittal is nephew of Statutory Auditor Mr Anil Mittal & does small time jobs.
d) Stunning Construction Private Limited – The Company is holding 19.75 % shareholding in LA Residentia
Developers Pvt. Ltd. is a consortium partner in the project since beginning. LA Residentia project has 3200
flats LA Residentia should surrender either 19.75% of land or 632 flats. It was formed only for payment of
Statutory dues of Amrapali Group of Companies, its directors and their relatives including senior employees of
the Amrapali Group of Companies. The company was under the direct control of CFO Chander Wadhwa and
Company Secretary Pankaj Mehta. The amount of taxes paid by the company on behalf of promoters,
directors, executives and their family members is Rs.17.43 crore (net) and gross up is Rs.24.9 crore is
recoverable from promoters, directors, executives and their relatives.
e) Kapila Buildhome Private Limited – The company did not undertake any business. A sum of Rs.392.68
Crores was advanced as loan or advances to the various group Companies. Further, it accepted non-interest
bearing inter corporate deposits from non group companies with whom no other transactions were undertaken.
We are of the view that these are accommodation book entries only in lieu of consideration given to them
indirectly by the management. List is as stated hereunder:
Total 144,900,00
The above companies were used for the purpose of money laundering and required a detailed investigation.
Further the amount as shown above is not payable to the party as indicated against. None of the parties (except
PAN Realtors that also when we requested them otherwise they were silent for last 8 Years) as above has
lodged any claim so far therefore it strengthens our charge.
f) Rudraksh Infracity Private Limited- Shri Chandan Kumar, an office boy and employee of CA Anil Mittal,
Statutory Auditor and Shri Atul Mittal, relative of CA Anil Mittal were inducted in the board. The basic
purpose of this Company was only for money laundering and was incorporated to receive Funds from Mannat
Buildcraft Private Limited. After receiving money (Rs.25 Cr.) from Mannat Buildcraft Private Limited, the
same was transferred to J.P. Morgan Investments for purchase of Equity Shares of Amrapali Zodiac Private
Limited at an exorbitant price. There are no transactions before or after these transfers of money and the same
have been camouflaged to make it look with business transactions on the basis of the Valuation Report. It was
also observed that there are no transactions at any date during the period but the bank account has only been
used for diversion of funds.
g) Mannat Buildcraft Private Limited - Shri Pankaj Mehta is Company Secretary of Amrapali group of
Companies and now Partner of Mr. Chander Wadhwa, CFO in Saffron Consultants LLP and Mr. Ashish Jain
who is also Partner of Mr. Chander Wadhwa, CFO in Saffron Consultants LLP, were inducted in the board.
The basic purpose of this Company was only for money laundering (Rs.120 Cr.) and was incorporated to
receive Funds from Amrapali Zodiac Developers Private Limited.
The whole racket of money laundering and receiving money from these Companies i.e. Mannat Buildcraft
Private Limited, Rudraksh Infracity Private Limited and Neelkanth Buildcraft private Limited are the brain
child of Mr. Chander Wadhwa, CFO and Anil Mittal, Statutory Auditor of Amrapali Group of Companies.
Both these Companies are controlled by both of these persons and had been formed only for this Money
Laundering Business. There are no transactions before or after these transfers of money and the same have
been camouflaged to make it look with business transactions on the basis of the Valuation Report.
h) Amrapali Magadh Developers Pvt Ltd - The company has not carried out principal business activities. There
is no bank account. The purpose of creating the company is not clear. The shareholders paid the share
application money in cash. The company is a dormant company & did not have any significant transaction.
i) Amrapali Mahi Developers Pvt Ltd - The company received share capital in cash and all the expenses were
paid in cash only. Mr. Mahendra Singh Dhoni, husband of Ms. Sakshi Singh Dhoni (director of company) was
the brand ambassador of Amrapali group and have carried out a number of transactions with respect to
endorsement of Amrapali group’s projects. He entered in agreements with other group company.
j) Amrapali Spring Valley Pvt Ltd- the company is created for diversion of funds and Rs.186 crore was
diverted from Amrapali Smart City Pvt Ltd to buy shares of Ultra Home Construction Pvt Ltd and
shareholders are promoter directors without doing any investments. Most of the above companies will qualify
to be NBFC, which was reported neither by the management nor by the statutory auditors (except Jhamb
Finance & Leasing Pvt Ltd). It is recommended that RBI shall investigate the affairs and compliances of the
above companies. Amrapali Media Vision Pvt Ltd was also incorporated with a purpose to route funds for
making movies to satisfy the ambitious desires of directors/family members. Most of the marketing and
advertisement business of the group companies was given to the company with a profit margin on the cost. The
group could have done this advertisement directly. But because there was need to make movies, the funds were
diverted to the company directly in the form of loan as well by availing the services indirectly from these
companies. The Company was freely availing funds of homebuyers from other group Companies in the form
of ICD and spent it on making movies.
Hawthrone Intellect Management Solutions Pvt Ltd –Company was providing Management Consultancy
Services (Recruitment Services) and taking nominal professional fee. In turn, the Company has incurred more
expenses in the last few years on account of Salary, Wages and other administrative expenses thereby resulting
in net loss to the Company which has accumulated to INR 2.33 Crores as on 31.03.2015.
All these entries seem to be in nature of dubious entries and no voucher are available. This amount of loss of
2.33 Crores needs to be recovered from the Directors as they have wiped of the amount of the Home Buyers
funds diverted as Home Buyers Money to the Company. Apart from the above companies, there were several
companies which were incorporated by employees, auditors of Amrapali group. Shareholding as well as
investment/assets of these companies shall be attached
8. Companies created for building assets The following companies were created by the Group for building
assets from homebuyer funds without contribution of any rupee by promoters and their relatives. The
shareholding is held by the group companies and/or by shell companies and/or the trusted partners including
individuals.
• Ultra Home Construction Pvt Ltd- Shareholders did not bring capital of their own, but used funds of home
buyers in other entities/projects to pay for allotment of shares in UHCPL. Mr. Anil Kumar Sharma was allotted
shares at premium for an amount of Rs.22,82,40,810 on 4th Nov 2010 and Rs.25,84,05,470 on 2nd March
2011 by adjusting receipts from Amrapali Infrastructure Ltd which further received from Amrapali Sapphire
Developers Pvt Ltd, which received from homebuyers. Few instances are hereunder:
that Mr. Prem Mishra was given INR 12.40 crore (under several ledgers) for purchase of land since 1st April
2008, out of which INR 10 crore are still receivable from him. The project was sold by Prem Mishra to various
parties and received amount in his name. We are yet to complete the audit of Prem Mishra in Indore project.
The company transferred funds to and fro with several parties which do not have any substance. It has several
small and big debit balances as on date. • Amrapali Biotech India Pvt Ltd – Land & Building, Plant &
machinery, a factory at Rajgir (Bihar) • Amrapali Healthcare Pvt Ltd – Hospital at Noida • Noida Texfab Pvt
Ltd – Amrapali International Institute of Hotel management, Noida • Neelkanth Buildcraft Pvt Ltd – bought
shareholding from JP Morgan in Amrapali Zodiac developers Pvt Ltd.
• MVG Techno Consultants Pvt Ltd – Tower at Noida • Amrapali Infrastructure Pvt Ltd – recast factory at
Greater Noida • Sangam Colonisers Pvt Ltd- The Company has received an amount of Rs.10.51 crore as
advance against plots. However, despite repeated requests we have not been provided with the complete data
base reflecting Number of Plots, Name of the buyers, Amount of Sale Consideration, Amount Received,
Amount Outstanding, Unsold plots etc. Hence, we are not in the position to comment upon the same. As
informed to us during the course of audit, the remaining portion of the land available with the Company has
been attached by Hon’ble Supreme Court of India and put to auction by DRT. • Navodaya Properties Pvt Ltd –
Building corporate tower 2, Noida • Amrapali Power & Cement Pvt Ltd – Land from Charu Rai yet to be
identified, Land from UPSIDC yet to be identified. • Amrapali Buddha Developers Private Limited – Shopping
complex cum Mall at Gaya • MSB Software Technology Private Limited – Tower 1, Noida • Gaurisuta
Infrasolution Private Limited –Flats in Amrapali Silicon City Private Limited, booking of bogus expenditure of
Rs.1.07 crore. • Amrapali Hospitality Services Private Limited- Hotel at Deogarh, Jharkhand • Mums Mega
Food Park Private Limited- FMCG Factory at Buxar, Bihar, Land Building and Plant & machinery
RudrakshInfracity Private Limited - bought shareholding from JP Morgan in Amrapali Zodiac developers Pvt
Ltd.
• MannatBuildcraft Private Limited - bought shareholding from JP Morgan in Amrapali Zodiac developers Pvt
Ltd.
Serious Observation Our investigation reveals that this company has been used to perpetuate a fraud enabling
JP Morgan Investments to sell its shares of Amrapali Zodiac Pvt. Ltd. to other Group Companies of Amrapali
group namely, RudrakshInfracity Pvt. Ltd. and Neelkanth Buildcraft Pvt. Ltd. at a valuation amounting to INR
140 crores which is not justified. This company has been used as a tool to transfer the money to other Amrapali
Group companies. The following persons seems to be involved in this organized fraud:
Chander Wadhwa, Adhikari dash and Anil Mittal incorporated 27 Additional companies identified so far,
which may be many more, and became consortium partners from the funds of the home buyers. In the process,
they appointed peons and junior employees of auditors office as directors who were totally unaware of the
transactions. These companies were used for depositing cash during demonetisation. The companies were
formed/acquired for routing funds and were not in any business. These were sham companies whose share
capital was mostly subscribed in cash and the transfer of shares was also in cash leaving no audit trail.
9. Misuse of funds by directors involved in scam The directors and executives colluded with each other and
diverted homebuyers funds. Directors received huge amount of money in the form of salary as well as
professional fee, both together. A person could have been either in whole time employment of the company or
render services as consultant. However, a person cannot enjoy salary income and earn professional income at
the same time and also both cannot be earned at the same time from same company. But directors of Amrapali
group withdrew sums using all possible ways, be it salary, professional fee, reimbursement of expenses, use of
luxury cars or loans and advances to self/relatives/self controlled entities/trusted partners or booking of bills of
self controlled entities/trusted partners. Further professional fee was booked without any agreement or proof of
service. It had no correlation with the amount of work done by the directors. Professional fee was booked as
per wish and desire of directors and did not have any fair basis. There were standing instructions to transfer
company funds to the individual directors bank accounts when the balance was reaching to the specified set
minimum balance limit.
The Professional fee paid to the directors, relatives of directors, and senior managers was a unique way of
diverting money. Huge amounts were paid without any agreements at the whims and fancies of the directors
and managers. Moreover it was tax free and the tax liability was discharged by another group company. The
whole of professional fee received by the directors (as stated hereunder) is recoverable from them. (Volume –
II, Page no 416-417).
(as per
affidavit)
Shiv Priya
26,43,64,571
Ajay Kumar
5,76,90,240
Suvash Chandra Kumar
5,11,21,752
Amresh Kumar
68,11,110
Total
67,13,11,253
Professional fee was under disclosed to the tune of is Rs.33.4 crore (Anil Kumar Sharma 8.75 cr + Shiv Priya
24.65 cr) in affidavits filed on 3rd Dec 2018 (Volume –II, Page no 414-415). The Difference was found of
from the affidavit file and the tax returns.
It shall be noted that directors did not share company wise receipts in the affidavit and also books of accounts
of directors were not provided. Directors along with their trusted partners and relatives cheated and did
criminal breach of trust with the home buyers. They transferred the funds from the projects to the companies
which were closely held by the directors, their family members and/or by their trusted associates. The
objective was to create assets in the closely held companies and leave the home buyers on the road. For
example, Eklavya Building Solutions Pvt Ltd acquired property in Goa amounting to is Rs.2 crore through
funds received from Amrapali group, 27 other companies further invested Amrapali funds in Amrapali projects
(For example Many Flats in IT Park at Greater Noida);
The directors spent homebuyers funds on wedding of daughter of director, foreign travels, expensive watches,
jewellery, purchasing luxury cars for use by directors. The homebuyers funds were also used for investment in
mutual funds, creating personal properties , payment of housing loans, investment in shares & securities. The
directors created discreet projects for personal income for example In the name of Amrapali Hospitality a hotel
at Deogarh was constructed out of funds received from homebuyers without their knowledge of it. They used
homebuyers funds in the form of construction of assets for other projects, examples constructed mall at
Muzzafarpur, Bareilly etc, Hotel at Deogarh, Bareilly, Hospital at Noida etc. Few particulars of diversion of
funds received from Amrapali group are as under:
By Shiv Priya
Advance against property to Gaursons India Ltd 51,00,000 Bathroom products and Marble for home 38,92,668
Furniture 74,76,644 Helicopter services 6,20,000 Watches 19,45,500 Lights, art designing, Bed linen
38,26,290 Jewellery 33,44,475 Quality Synthetic Industries Ltd 1,50,00,000 Cozy Habitat Builders Pvt Ltd
15,00,000 SN Dubey 10,00,000 Stamp duty for registry of Jaypee Green Villa 32,50,000 Payment for LIC
3,49,96,654 Investment in mutual funds 8,86,50,409 Payment of loan for Pearl Gateway Towers 30,84,952
Payment of loan for Jaguar 23,13,800 Payment of loan from bank of Maharashtra 46,65,200 Total
18,06,66,592 By Ajay Kumar Yogesh Chand 25,00,000 Transferred to Sweep Account 1,33,00,000 Ozone
GSP Infratech 50,00,000 Quality Synthetic Industries Ltd 40,00,000 Investment in mutual funds 2,25,00,000
Payment of housing loan for IRS Colony, Abhay Khand, Indirapuram 56,31,000 Payment of housing loan for
Pelican Villa Jaypee Green 37,55,784 Payment for LIC 2,56,53,384 Total 8,23,40,168 Funds transferred from
Amrapali group of companies was withdrawn in cash from personal accounts of directors and diverted to
undisclosed people. In case of Anil Kumar Sharma, it is seen that an amount of is Rs.10.38 crore was
withdrawn from June 2008 to May 2012 within a few days of transfer to bank account of Anil Kumar Sharma
in Bank of Maharashtra. Several times, description of source of receipt or person to whom payment was made
were not clear and such sources or application could not be identified.
Several companies were incorporated to create assets or to hold investment in the group companies or outside
the group companies having assets. The promoter directors or their family members became the shareholders
in these companies without investing any paisa. Homebuyer funds were diverted to these companies and then
these companies bought shares from the funds so diverted in the companies having assets for example Noida
hospital in Amrapali Healthcare Pvt Ltd, 5 star hotel in Ultra Home Construction Pvt Ltd, Institute of hotel
management in Noida Texfab Pvt Ltd etc. Investment from JP Morgan and other funds availed for the purpose
of construction which were not required at all because the funds paid by homebuyer were in most of the cases
were higher than the cost of construction and land payments, were diverted on the day of receipt itself to the
closely held companies and to the companies created for the sole purpose for using them as a conduit for
diversion and to the suppliers of bogus supplies. It is very surprising that when funds were borrowed a high
rate of interest was paid ranging from 14 -18% to so called investors and the same investors were given loans
to their group companies without charging any interest. In such a scenario, the possibility of taking cash in the
form of interest cannot be ruled out. Directors sold number of flats at low prices as compared to the prices
existing on or near to those dates and on which rates sales were made to other home buyers. It is further
submitted that some of the flats have been sold even at rates as low as is Rs.1,000 - is Rs.1,400 per square feet
which is even lower than the cost of construction. Possibility of taking cash outside the books of accounts
cannot be ruled out. Instances of misuse of funds are hereunder:
Anil Kumar Sharma Mr. Anil Kumar Sharma received funds from Amrapali group of Companies which was
used for acquiring personal properties, as stated hereunder:
2. Mr. Anil Kumar Sharma purchased following assets out of amount received from Amrapali group
Companies:
a. Jewelries worth is Rs.3.39 crore b. Car through AMP Motors: is Rs.0.56 crore c. Life Insurance Policies: is
Rs.1.82 crore (based on bank statements available, although in total amount invested in insurance policies
amounted to is Rs.4 crore)
3. Mr. Anil Kumar Sharma made following personal expenses of is Rs.1.35 crore for wedding of his daughter
out of amounts received from Amrapali Group of Companies:
a. Payment made to Event Management Companies: is Rs.0.90 crore b. Payment made to hotels: is Rs.0.45
crore
4. Mr. Anil Kumar Sharma made payment of is Rs.8.71 crore to following third parties out of amounts
received from Amrapali Group of Companies:
5. Mr. Anil Kumar Sharma made payments of is Rs.10.73 crore to his family members out of amounts received
from Amrapali group of Companies:
a. Deepshikha (Daughter): is Rs.93,50,000 b. Ritik Kumar Sinha (Son in Law): is Rs.1,40,00,000 c. Swapnil
Sikha (Daughter): is Rs.8,39,60,878
6. Mr. Anil Kumar Sharma received RS. 6.55 crore in his bank account from Amrapali Hospitality during the
month of June and July, 2018 for sale of Bareilley mall to Vaishnavi Vahini Mount Life Hospitality Pvt Ltd.
The said amount was immediately disbursed to family members:
a. Self: Rs.4,77,00,000
b. Pallavi Mishra (Wife) Rs.60,00,000
c. Swapnil Shikha (Daughter) Rs.48,00,000
d. Raj Dulari devi (Mother) Rs.52,00,000
e. Ranjit Kumar Rs.9,90,000
7. Unexplained cash deposits of Rs.5.73 crore were received by Mr. Anil Kumar Sharma in his bank accounts
from November to December, 2016 i.e during demonetization period.
8. Mr. Madan Mohan Sharma (Father of Anil Kumar Sharma) received Rs.2 crore from Amrapali Grand
during month November and December, 2007.
9. Unexplained cash deposits of Rs.0.13 crore were received by Mrs. Raj Dulari Devi (Mother of Anil Kumar
Sharma) during from April to July, 2018.
10. Following are the details of lockers held by family members of Anil Kumar Sharma:
• Pallavi Mishra –
a) in UCO bank account no 1557010000618
b) in HDFC Bank account no 50100162844761 locker no 9250500004564240 • Raj Dulari Devi in Yes Bank
account no 8599300000716, Locker no 11606082018
11. There are substantial transactions with Amrapali Aadya Trading in his bank account of IndusInd Bank
Account no.100028567700 as per details given below:
his various affidavits furnished to the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India. Shiv Priya
1. Mr. Shiv Priya received funds from Amrapali group of Companies which was used for acquiring personal
properties, as stated hereunder:
2. Mrs. Sonali Suman (Wife of Shiv Priya) made investments in different mutual funds amounting to Rs.8.86
crore out of amounts received from Amrapali group of Companies.
3. Mr. Shiv Priya purchased following assets out of amounts received from Amrapali group of companies:
a. Jewelleries: Rs.33,44,475
b. Life Insurance Policies Rs.3,49,96,654
c. Watches Rs.19,45,500
4. Mr. Shiv Priya made following personal expenses of Rs.2.74 crore out of amounts received from Amrapali
group of companies: a. Expenditure made for Residential property (Marbles, bathroom products, lights etc)
Rs.56,53,268 b. Helicopter services Rs.6,20,000 c. Art designing Rs.10,00,000 d. Bed Linen, Table linen and
art designing Rs.20,36,290 e. Wooden doors and Furnitures: Rs.74,76,644 f. Payment made for clearing dues
of American Express Credit Card: Rs.1,06,78,273
5. Mr. Shiv Priya made payment of Rs.1.75 crore to following third parties out of amounts received from
Amrapali Group of companies: a. Quality Synthetic Industries Limited Rs.1,50,00,000 b. Cozy Habitat
Builders Pvt Ltd Rs.15,00,000 c. S N Dubey Rs.10,00,000
6. Unexplained cash deposits of Rs.6 crore were received by Mr. Shiv Priya in his bank accounts during
December, 2016 i.e during demonetization period.
7. Mrs. Sonali Suman (Wife of Shiv Priya) re-paid loan from bank amounting to Rs.0.45 crore out of amount
received from Amrapali group of Companies. It is to be seen what the purpose was for which the bank granted
loan for 6 months for the said amount.
8. Shiv Priya is holding demat account no 1206420001934748 and Sonali Suman is holding demat account no
1206420001936308 with HDFC bank, of which details have not been provided to us.
9. Mrs Sonali Suman holds mutual funds with HDFC mutual funds Folio no 11707520/73, which have market
value amounting to Rs.0.65 crore as on 28th February 2019.
10. A sum of Rs.0.45 crore was paid by M/s Royal Golf Link City Projects Private Limited to Mr. Shiv Priya
during the financial Year 2016-17 which was not declared by him in the various Affidavits filed in the Hon’ble
Supreme Court.
11. There was an income tax search in the premises of Amrapali Group of Companies and the residence of the
directors in the month of 7th and 8th August, 2013. During this search operation unaccounted cash was seized
from the residence of directors namely Shri Shiv Priya amounting to Rs 1 Crores. Unexplained jewellery was
also seized from the residence of Mr. Shiv Priya amounting to Rs 0.58 Crores. Thus, it apparently shows that
he has unaccounted cash. Ajay Kumar
1. Mr. Ajay Kumar received funds from Amrapali group of Companies which was used for acquiring personal
properties, as stated hereunder:
a. Property located at Plot no: A-014 Savanna Villas, Jaypee Greens Sector-128, Noida; the property was not
disclosed in affidavit submitted on 3rd December, 2018 -(Housing loans was paid for this property out of
amount received from Group companies) b. Property located at IRS colony, Abhay Khand, Indirapuram,
Ghaziabad- Rs.1.38 crore.
c. Property located at Plot No: A-014, Pelican Villa Jaypee Green Noida 201301- Rs.1.11 crore.
2. Mrs. Seema Kumari (Wife of Ajay Kumar) made investments in different mutual funds amounting to
Rs.2.25 crore out of amounts received from Amrapali group of companies during August to September, 2018.
3. Mr. Ajay Kumar made investments in Life insurance Policies of Rs.2.59 crore out of amounts received from
Amrapali group of companies.
4. Mr. Ajay Kumar made payment of Rs.1.25 crore to following third parties out of amounts received from
Amrapali Group of Companies:
5. Mr. Ajay Kumar made investment of Rs.1.12 crore in Ultra Home Construction as Share Capital out of
amounts received from Amrapali group of companies.
6. Mr. Ajay Kumar made payment of direct tax of Rs.0.11 crore out of amounts received from Amrapali group
of companies.
7. Mrs Seema Kumari holds mutual funds with HDFC mutual funds Folio no 14756739/01, which have market
value amounting to Rs.0.48 crore as on 28th February 2019.
8. Bank Statement of Anandi Singh of IndusInd Bank Account no.150019032006 A sum of Rs.1.73 crore has
been transferred from Seema Kumari on 09/08/2018.
Further a sum Rs.2.25 crore has been invested in Mutual Funds as per details given below:
Note: This amount can be attached and recovered by encashment of these investments.
1. While scrutinizing the Accounts of Gaurisuta Infrasolution Private Limited in which Mr. Sunil Kumar was
the Director, it was observed by us that bogus commission of Rs.1.07 crore was booked. This amount of
Rs.1.07 crore should be recovered from Mr. Sunil Kumar.
2. A sum of Rs.0.50 crore has also been paid as Salary to Mrs. Sunita Kumari in M/s Gaurisuta Infrasolution
Private Limited which is not genuine as per detailed report given in the case of M/s Gaurisuta Infrasolution
Private Limited. This Amount of Rs.0.50 crore should also be recovered from Mrs. Sunita Kumari.
Mr. Sudhir Kumar Choudhary He is director in Amrapali Biotech India Private Limited & Gaurisuta
Infrasolution Private Limited. As per his statement recorded, he was forced to become the director in first week
of august 2018 with effect from 06th July 2018.
We are of the view that this planning has been done by the Amrapali Management after the order of the
Hon’ble Supreme Court to accept the resignation of Mrs. Seema Kumari Wife of Sunil Kumar from the
Directorship and to appoint Mr. Sudhir Kumar Choudhary as the director of the company.
It was further explained by him that he was a mere employee only and by virtue of threat by the Amrapali
Group of Companies, he was forced to become the Director of Amrapali Infrasolution Private Limited. Apart
from above specific points, it shall be noted that we had got access to the email of the Accounts department of
Amrapali Group of Companies with Id [email protected] for a short period after interrogation from an Ex-
employee. We could download few instances of Cash transactions which are enclosed as a sample in Annexure
26-B. The access to this mail was stopped immediately. We requested the management to give the access to
this mail to enquire into the further such mails related to the cash and other accounting adjustments contained
in this Email Account. But this access was not made available to us.
However, the access had been made available after the orders of the Honorable Supreme Court dated 28th
February, 2019. Now, all the mails relating to receipt of cash from the various home buyers have been deleted.
Thus, the management of the company has tempered with the evidence which were available earlier. (Page No.
205 Volume-I) Further an amount of Rs.113.5 crore paid by Amrapali Infrastructure Pvt Ltd to directors is
recoverable as on 31st March 2018 and this amount is on account of shares allotted of Ultra Home
Construction Private Limited to the directors without receiving any money from the directors during the
Financial Year 2010-11. This seems to be a dubious transaction by the directors of the company in
manipulating the accounts in this manner by allotting the shares without actual consideration. These amounts
are not disclosed by the Directors in their Affidavits. Hence, the Affidavits filed by the directors are incorrect
to this extent.
10. Executives who colluded with directors The executives of the Group colluded with the management to
avoid proper recording of transactions in books of accounts. To avoid the traceability of the transactions, the
executives recorded the financial transactions up to March 2015 in Accounting Package tally, then shifted to
FARVISION from April 2015 and continued till March 2016, and thereafter partially recorded transaction in
tally and a for a few companied in FARVISION. At the time of switchover, even the opening balances were
not properly entered, thereby leading to a huge difference in the data provided to us. In November 2016, the
Group left Farvision half way and started recording transactions for partial period in tally. The executives
intentionally recorded transactions by switchover of accounting package improperly so that complete trail
could not be established. Subsequently, the companies of the group even stopped getting the annual accounts
prepared and filing returns to ROC and Income tax The Sales and Marketing head Mohit Gupta, CFO Chandar
Wadhwa, Accounts head Adhikari Das, Company Secretary Pankaj Mehta and the Architect Vaibhav Jain
along with their immediate coterie extended helping hand to the management in planning and execution of the
scam.
Mr. Mohit Gupta – Marketing Director He was responsible for the whole marketing department, Customer
Relationship Management of the Amrapali Group and he did not cooperate during the entire process of
forensic audit. It is pertinent to note that till now a list of flat wise possession has not been provided to us.
At first he did not submit us the customer data inspite of number of reminders. Subsequently, the customer
data submitted was not correct. We found the following–
(ii) We found 401 flats (Refer Annexure S-5 page 2828-2836 Supplementary report) which were either lying
vacant and were available in inventory because the flat buyers were shifted out of Amrapali Group to the other
project of other builders. Mr. Mohit Gupta also did not disclose the details of flats booked in the name of
various parties without receipt of any amount from them just by passing journal entry.
(iii) From the above it is clear that it defies the order of Honorable Supreme Court and has violated the order
and is responsible for the gross contempt of the Honorable Court.
Mr. Adhikari Debi Prasad Dash- GM/DGM Accounts It is found that Mr. Adhikari authorized (Refer
Annexure S-6 page 2837-2841 Supplementary report) most of the payments regarding payment of professional
charges, raw materials, contractor dues and other direct/indirect expenses. It is pertinent to note that he was
also involved in diversion of funds from Amrapali group and equally responsible in the conspiracy of cheating
with home buyers and diversion of funds.
He was responsible for the whole accounts department and he did not cooperate during the entire process of
forensic audit. He was authorized to receive payments in cash and was submitting on day to day basis cash
receipt status to Mr. Shiv Priya. After a clearance from him, a possession slip or no due certificate is issued. He
continuously replied that he is not aware of anything and for everything there were Chartered Accountants for
respective companies. This is not a correct statement and he contradicted his own statement many times. He
was in possession of final accounts of group companies and did not share with us.
Adhikari Dash also did not disclose the details of flats booked in the name of various parties without receipt of
any amount from them just by passing journal entry.
From the above it is clear that it defies the order of Honorable Supreme Court and has violated the order and is
responsible for the gross contempt of the Honorable Court.
He along with his brother exercised direct control over below companies:
• The company has a commercial project named “Beta Plaza” at Greater Noida which received funds from
Teks Tech Inspection India Private Limited (controlled by Mr. Adhikari), APJ Finmart Private Limited,
Opulent Inn Private Limited, Tasty Feast Private Limited, Opulent Holidays and Travels (P) Limited. The
chairman of four companies CA Pankaj Mittal appeared before us and could not explained the reasons for
giving loans @ 6% p.a. to a real estate project whereas the bank rate on FDR is 7% and more. • The company
has purchased this land for the project at Greater Noida in FY 2015-16 amounting to Rs.17.09 crore •
Vinayaka Square received Rs 1 crore from Amrapali funds routed through Teks Tech Inspection India Private
Limited and received Rs.2.56 crore from Shri Vinayaka Buildspace Private Limited. This is a project funded
by Amrapali’s Funds and shall be attached. Mr. Chander Wadhwa CFO Amrapali Group of Companies It has
also been observed that a sum of Rs.5 crores was transferred by M/s Amrapali Homes Project Private Limited
to Mr. Amit Wadhwa, nephew of Mr. Chander Prakash Wadhwa. As per the affidavit filled by Mr. Chander
Prakash Wadhwa the said sum was invested by him in M/s Three Platinum Softech Private Limited. The
Heartbeat city projects is partly owned by three Platinum and Amrapali group has invested in the projects in
the name of Chander Wadhwa.
As per Statement of Mr. Sanjeev Kumar Director of La Residentia Developers Private Limited recorded by us,
he Informed that a sum of Rs.4 crores Approximately, was paid as fees for use of Amrapali Brand Name to
Saffron Propmart Private Limited (This Company is controlled by Mr. Chander Wadhwa CFO). No Bills have
been provided by him. Statutory Auditor CA Anil Mittal and Shri Chander Wadhwa CFO were in connivance
with each other and payments were made by Shri Anil Mittal to Chander Wadhwa CFO for sharing fees
received from Amrapali group for the work awarded to Anil Mittal Chander Wadhwa is one of the
masterminds along with the other promoters directors behind the whole scam. He facilitated movement of
funds by creating a web of companies within and outside the group. His relatives were made partner investor in
LA Residentia and Heart beat city projects. Funds were invested in Patel Advance JV (Neo Town project
Noida) and Euphoria Sports City.
Furthermore, it is observed that the Company Management as well as Statutory Auditors and CFO have failed
in their duty to follow the Accounting Standards relating to recording the valuation of Work in Progress as per
ICAI guidelines applicable to Real Estate Companies. It is also pointed out that the CFO has not signed any
Audited Financial Statements for reasons best known to them. But according to the statement recorded by us of
various employees and suppliers as well as home buyers, we are informed that he was the main person
handling Finance and every meeting was held with him only. (page no 209 Volume 1) Mr. Pankaj Mehta –
Company Secretary He was responsible for the secretarial compliances of the companies. He incorporated
more than 50 additional companies to create a cobweb. He was a director in many of these companies and was
an important link in the transfer of funds through various group companies. He was also signatory to the bank
account of Stunning Construction Private Limited. He resigned from the services of the Company in
December, 2016. However even after his resignation, on the instructions of Mr. Chander Wadhwa, CFO, he
continued to operate the Bank Accounts of Stunning Construction Private Limited. After his resignation in the
Amrapali Group, he started working as a partner of Saffron Consultants LLP with Mr. Chander Wadhwa. Also
Mr. Anil Kumar is still working as an employee with Mr. Chander Wadhwa.
On the instructions of Mr. Chander Wadhwa CFO manipulative entries were recorded for adjustment of
payment dues of Mr. Pankaj Mehta against his Flat No. E-1502, Silicon City, Sector - 76, Noida.
(i) The group companies have not filed annual returns and Audited Financial Statements after 31st March,
2015. The Registrar of Companies has already disqualified the Directors namely Mr. Anil Kumar Sharma, Mr.
Amresh Kumar, Mr. Shiv Priya, Mr.Ajay Kumar and Mr. Suvash Chandra Kumar for a period of 5 years from
1/11/2017 to 31/10/2022 u/s 164(2) of The Companies Act, 2013.
(ii) The company has not been regular in payment of TDS and Service tax and has also not filled relevant
returns of TDS/Service tax after 31st March, 2015. There is also no follow up available from the Concerned
departments.
Latest information regarding status of default in respect of TDS/ Service tax is not made available to us. There
may be huge demands outstanding against the company due to non-payment and non-filing of TDS/Service tax
returns.
(iii) No Statutory records have been maintained by the Amrapali group companies and produced before us
relating to the following:
i. Register of Directors and shareholders ii. Register of related party contracts iii. Minute book of Director and
Shareholders iv. Fixed Assets Register v. Charges register in respect of loans taken from Banks and others
(iv) Transfer entries are recorded in Inter Corporate Deposit accounts by transferring the amount from one
Amrapali group company to another Amrapali group company in contravention of section 269SS/269T of The
Income Tax Act, 1961.
(v) Depreciation has not been provided on the building in contravention of the provisions of the Companies
Act, 1956, now Companies Act, 2013 in Navodaya Properties Private Limited. It is highly surprising that in
spite of such glaring discrepancies regarding non-Compliance of statutory compliances, the Statutory Auditors
have not pointed out any such discrepancies in their Statutory Audit Reports.
There are many other glaring short comings in the Audited Balance Sheet & Financial Statements
a) I – Page 214)
12. Anil Mittal - Statutory Auditor While scrutinizing the affidavit submitted by Shri Anil Mittal Date
12/11/2018 before the Hon’ble court we have noted the following:
a) CA Anil Mittal was paid Rs.0.56 crore (Rs.0.66 crore less Rs.0.10 crore recovered) during the period 2011
to 2018. These payments have been shown in the nature of cheques given /credit card payments which have
been never been recovered.
b) Statutory Auditor CA Anil Mittal and Shri Chander Wadhwa CFO were in connivance with each other and
these payments have been made by Shri Anil Mittal to Chander Wadhwa CFO for sharing fees received from
Amrapali group for the work awarded to CA Anil Mittal. CA Anil Mittal blindly signed all the accounts and is
grossly involved along with Mr. Chander Wadhwa in making various manipulation in the accounts.
c) Audit files handed over by Shri Anil Mittal Statutory Auditor are grossly deficient and they do not contain
the documents which are normally required in the statutory audit files as per guidelines and directions issued
by The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.
d) Statutory Auditor CA Anil Mittal has received the payment on account of professional charges in the name
of the companies in which his relatives are directors. This fact has not been disclosed in audited financial
statements.
e) A sum of Rs.52.07 crore was adjusted against the payment due on account of Flat number P-1203 in
Amrapali Princely Estate on account of professional fees due and to be paid on account of Audit fees.
f) Further a sum of Rs.16.36 crore was also adjusted against the flat number P-1104 in Amrapali Princely
Estate on account of Professional fees due and to be paid on account of Audit fees.
13. Diversion of homebuyers funds Amrapali Group was engaged in diversion of home buyer funds from one
project to another project, other group companies, directors and senior executives of the group. There is also a
diversion of funds to various suppliers where advances were made without any further adjustment/
transactions.
There is not only diversion of funds, there is siphoning of funds also by way of booking undervalued
transactions in respect of sale of flats, by way of booking of expenses, and making purchases from the bogus
suppliers/service providers.
In addition to this they adopted fraudulent practices also by way of double booking of flats. There are also
instances of adjustment of amounts payable to suppliers/brokers with the amount due from the home buyers
such trade creditors have denied having any knowledge of such transactions.
We have traces of receiving of Cash from the home buyers/ others as shown by the email of the accounts
department of the Amrapali Group of Companies which is not accounted for in the books of accounts. There is
also allotment of shares without inward movement of funds by making manipulative entries in the books of
accounts. The homebuyers funds were diverted Rs. 5,619.47 crore to other companies/directors:
SHALIMAR
COLONISERS
PRIVATE LIMITED - - - - -
HI-TECH CITY
DEVELOPERS
PRIVATE LIMITED 2.42 1.96 8.91 - 0.46
AMRAPALI
HEALTHCARE
PRIVATE LIMITED - - 0.22 - -
AMRAPALI
HOSPITALITY
SERVICES
PRIVATE LIMITED - 0.02 13.55 - 0.01
AMRAPALI
INFRASTRUCTUR
E PRIVATE
LIMITED - 65.61 40.24 - 3.16
MSB SOFTWARE
TECHNOLOGY
PRIVATE
LIMITED. - - - - 0.70
MUMS MEGA
FOOD PARK
PRIVATE LIMITED - -- 1.29 -
MVG TECHNO
CONSULTANTS
PRIVATE LIMITED - - - - 0.13
NAVODAYA
PROPERTIES
PRIVATE LIMITED - - - - 0.24
NOIDA TEXFAB
PRIVATE LIMITED - - - - 0.13
AMRAPALI
AEROCITY
PRIVATE LIMITED - - 0.01 -
AMRAPALI
BIOTECH INDIA
PRIVATE
LIMITED. - - - - 1.5
AMRAPALI
BUDDHA
DEVELOPERS
PRIVATELIMITED - 0.65 0.47 - -
AMRAPALI
MAGADH
DEVELOPERS
PRIVATELIMITED - - - - -
AMRAPALI MAHI
DEVELOPERS
PRIVATE LIMITED - - - -
AMRAPALI MEDIA
VISION PRIVATE
LIMITED - - 4.96 - 9.67
AMRAPALI POWER
AND CEMENTS
PRIVATELIMITED - - 0.91 - -
AMRAPALI SMART
CITY PRIVATE - 8.02 0.95 - 0.5
LIMITED
AMRAPALI
SPRING VALLEY
PRIVATE LIMITED - -
- - -
HAWTHORNE
INTELLECT
MANAGEMENT
SOLUTIONS
PRIVATE LIMITED - - 0.17
- 0.01
NEELKANTH
BUILDCRAFT
PRIVATE LIMITED - -
- - -
GAURISUTA
INFRASTRUCTUR
E PRIVATE
LIMITED - - 0.46
- 0.02
KAPILA
BUILDHOME
PRIVATE LIMITED - - 0.41
- 0.03
STUNNING
CONSTRUCTIONS
PRIVATE LIMITED - - 15.04
- 0.17
JHAMB FINANCE
AND LEASING
PRIVATELIMITED - - 5.93
- -
MANNAT
BUILDCRAFT
PRIVATE LIMITED - - 0.99
- 0.20
RUDRAKSH
INFRACITY
PRIVATE LIMITED - -
- - -
GAURISUTA
INFRASOLUTION
PRIVATE LIMITED - - 1.24
- 0.01
LA RESIDENTIA
DEVELOPERS
PRIVATE LIMITED - - 23.35
- 0.3
Particulars
Amount in
crores
Grand Total
4,968.07
Further Gaurisuta Infrastructure Private Limited gave
25.00
Rs 25 crore advances to various parties as listed on page no 92-93 Volume I Further in Gaurisuta Infrastructure
Private Limited, 89.00 inventory of Rs 89 crore unidentifiable page no 96 Volume I FDR as on 31st March
2015 page no 175 Volume I 61.97 Professional Fees Paid to Directors 100.53 Taxes paid by Stunning
Construction on behalf of 24.90 promoters and family More than 700 flats given to so called suppliers 350.00
Total diversion identified 5,619.47
14. J P Morgan Amrapali Zodiac Developers Private Limited has financed this transaction by its own shares
through Group Companies by incorporating new Companies. These transactions enable Amrapali Zodiac
Developers Private Limited to avoid the provisions of The Companies Act, 1956 applicable for buying its own
shares. It is also relevant to point out that Shri Anil Mittal at any stage of time has not reported his interest or
disclosed about his relatives of Director and Junior Employee. Both the directors and shareholders of the
company i.e Mr. Atul Mittal (Relative) and Mr. Chandan Kumar (Junior Employee), are relatives/employee of
Anil Mittal, the Statutory Auditor of the company.
a) Rudraksh Infracity Private Limited- Shri Chandan Kumar, an employee of CA Anil Mittal, Statutory
Auditor and Shri Atul Mittal, relative of CA Anil Mittal were inducted in the board. The basic purpose of this
Company was only for money laundering and was incorporated to receive Funds from Mannat Buildcraft
Private Limited which Company was incorporated by CFO Chander Wadhwa through his close associates.
After receiving money from Mannat Buildcraft Private Limited, the same was transferred to J.P. Morgan
Investments for purchase of Equity Shares of Amrapali Zodiac Private Limited at an exorbitant price. As per
details furnished hereunder, the Valuation Report was also made to suit to the requirement of J.P. Morgan
Investments as the M/s Sudit K. Parikh & Company, Chartered Accountants were appointed by J.P. Morgan
officials for the said valuation. They have admitted that valuation work was done on the basis of information
provided by J.P. Morgan Investments after applying some basic checks.
The whole racket of money laundering and receiving money from these Companies i.e. Mannat Buildcraft
Private Limited and Rudraksh Infracity Private Limited are the brain child of Mr. Chander Wadhwa, CFO and
Anil Mittal, Statutory Auditor of Amrapali Group of Companies. Both these Companies are controlled by both
of these persons and had been formed only for this Money Laundering Business. There are no transactions
before or after these transfers of money and the same have been camouflaged to make it look with business
transactions on the basis of the Valuation Report. JP Morgan invested Rs.85 crore in the year 2010 with an
understanding to have a preferential claim on profits called distributable surplus in the ratio of 75% to JP
Morgan and 25% to promoters namely Amrapali Homes Project Private Limited and Ultra Home Construction
Private Limited with the following main condition in Shares Subscription Agreement dated 9th September,
2010 amongst Ultra Home Construction Private Limited, Amrapali Homes Project Private Limited, JP Morgan
& Amrapali Zodiac Developers Private Limited The Company shall provide evidence of the aforesaid
investment in the Investee Company to the Investor. (Rs. 60 Cr. in Leisure Valley Developers) (A) There was a
prescribed methodology and procedures defined of computation of Fair Market Value at the time of the exit to
be worked out in the agreement on Page No 51, schedule 6 of Shareholder’s Agreement, which was not
followed at the time of any of the exits. Clause 4.2 (iii) – The Company shall grant an interest free loan of Rs
85,000,000 (Rupees Eighty Five Million Only) to UHCPL. Clause 4.2(iv) – The Company shall remit Rs
600,000,000 (Rupees Six Hundred Million Only) to the Investee Company for subscribing to 0.01%
compulsorily convertible Preference shares of the Investee Company (“Investee Company Shares”) (B)
Distribution of profit was agreed between the Investor i.e., JP Morgan & the Investee i.e., Amrapali Group to
share the profits from the project in the agreed ratio as per clause 7.3 & Clause 7.5.1 Page No 19 of
Shareholder’s Agreement.
(C) Clause 7.1 - The Company agrees and undertakes that it shall, and the Investor and Developers agree that
they shall cause the Company to first utilize the revenues (less the cost of construction of the project, provision
for future consideration cost of the Project, payment of Project Land cost and interest thereon, annual lease rent
payment to New Okhla Industrial Development Authority and one time land lease cost) towards payment of
applicable taxes and payment of interest to the lenders, if any, in accordance with the provisions of Law.
Clause 7.2 – Post the payment of taxes and interest to the lenders, as aforesaid, the Company shall make
payments of all principal amounts accrued and payable to the lenders, if any, at applicable seniority. (D) In
clause 2.12 of Page No 12 of Shareholder’s agreement it was agreed that the aggregate advances outstanding
from the Amrapali Zodiac developers Private Limited to its affiliates will not exceed Rs 25 crores excluding
Amrapali Infrastructure Private Limited. It was also in the knowledge of JP Morgan vide clause 2.14 of Page
No 12 of Shareholder’s Agreement that advances to Amrapali Infrastructure Private Limited which was Rs 51
crore on 31st July, 2010 will be restricted to Rs 15 crore.
(E) Clause No 10.4.3 in page No 21 of Shareholder’s Agreement mentions that no action can be taken without
investor’s approval in relation to 10.4.3(xi) any payments made to related parties. (F) It was also mentioned in
the agreement that statutory auditor and internal auditor cannot be appointed and removed without the approval
of JPMorgan.
(G) The following points indicate very clearly that JP Morgan was having full control on Amrapali Zodiac
Developers Private Limited project and no material decision could have been taken without JP Morgan
approval.
On Page No 60 of Shareholder’s Agreement in Note 1 it was agreed & accepted that any surplus cash flow
from the project will be first utilized for payment of land cost to Noida Authority. Documents to be submitted
by Amrapali Zodiac Developers Private Limited to JP Morgan:
JP Morgan insisted that the cost shall be restricted to Rs 425 crore and any additional cost over and above Rs
425 crore shall be brought in by Amrapali Group promoter. The additional cost considered was Rs 125 crore to
be brought in by promoters.
(H) Zodiac has followed recognition of revenue on the basis of Project Completion Method – Accounting
Standard - 7 (Construction Contracts). As per Project Completion Method as given in Accounting Standard –
7, the profit cannot be recognized until the project is completed and as per Clause No 7.3 of Shareholder’s
Agreement the distributable amount is the balance amount representing the aggregate of all profits, after
considering the payments referred to in clause 7.1 and 7.2 , including any amounts transferred to the reserves
accounts of the Company shall for the purpose of this clause 7 are referred to as the “Distributable Amount”.
(I) From the above it is clear that in absence of recognition of profit in the agreement there cannot be any
distributable amount for distribution.
(J) It was accepted by Mr Suraj Chhabria of JP Morgan (Apollo) that the money invested by them in Amrapali
Zodiac Developers Private Limited was not utilized in the project. He also accepted that it was in their
knowledge that money invested by them was not going to be utilized in Amrapali Zodiac Developers Private
Limited project and it is contracted that Rs 60 crores to Amrapali Leisure Valley Developers Private Limited,
Rs 8.5 crores to Ultra Home Construction Private Limited be transferred. (K) JP Morgan was in knowledge of
that the Company Amrapali Zodiac Developers Private Limited has paid the money received from the Home
buyers to tthe other Companies of Amrapali Group. (L) JP Morgan permitted a transfer of Rs 140 crore to
Mannat Buildcraft Private Limited and from Mannat Buildcraft Private Limited to Neelkanth Buildcraft
Private Limited and Rudraksh Infracity Private Limited for buying shares from JP Morgan of Amrapali Zodiac
Developers Private Limited. There were always advances exceeded than the limits specified in Shareholder’s
Agreement but JP Morgan did not ensure bringing back the money from the affiliates though it was having its
board representation in the ratio3:2. JP Morgan did not ensure that the funds for additional cost were brought
in and in valuation it was assumed that additional cost of Rs 125 crores will be brought in by the promoter for
the last lag of the construction for its IRR (Internal Rate of Return) working. (M) JP Morgan was getting return
at the rate of more than 20 % on its investment of Rs 85 crore & was agreeing with Amrapali Zodiac
Developers Private Limited to invest in Amrapali Leisure Valley Developers Private Limited a substantial part
of its investment i.e., 60 crore out of Rs 85 crore at the rate 0.01%. It categorically demonstrates that JP
Morgan invested Rs 60 crore in Amrapali Leisure Valley Developers Private Limited without
complying FEMA (Foreign Exchange Management Act) for its investment of Rs 60 crore in Amrapali Leisure
Valley Developers Private Limited. It is not out of place to mention that Amrapali Zodiac Developers Private
Limited was a project where home buyers were required to pay on the basis of progress of the construction of
the project. Meaning it was construction linked payment project.
(N) We found that most of the time customers have paid more than what was spent in the project. The
Amrapali Zodiac Developers Private Limited diverted home buyer’s money & there was no need of any
investment from JP Morgan. It was accepted by Mr Suraj Chhabria that there was no restriction on the
Company to invest the money in the project & it was in his knowledge & the knowledge of JP Morgan that the
money has been diverted, Transferred Valuation (A) The valuation did not follow the correct methodology of
DCF (Discounted Cash Flow). The valuation is without any sanctity & validity. The valuation was carried out
to cause wrongful loss to the homebuyers of Amrapali Zodiac Developers Private Limited and to give
advantage to JPMorgan.
Chartered Accountants Name of the Partners– I. Mr. Durgaprasad Khatri II. Mr. Tanwir Shirolka III. Mr.
Srikant V Jilla IV. Ms. Deepti K.Ahuja Ms Ahuja, then partner in SKP&Co.Chartered Accountants
informed that JP Morgan, Mumbai office in Andheri/ Santacruise did not allow to take any of the details/
abstract from the share purchase agreement. It is to note that at the time of exit, it was predetermined that
Zodiac Developers would not pay the lease rent as well as the installment due to Noida Authorities as clearly
explained in the cash flow statement provided by the SKP&Co in 4 no. of valuation certificates from2010-
2015.
Morgan
23/10/201 436508 10 2290.9 99,99,99,26
30/12/2013 Neelkanth
3
Buildcraft
Private
Limited
9/09/2014 97000 10 2577.25 24,99,93,20
30/09/2014 Rudraksh
Infracity
Private
Limited
10/04/201 34365 10 2910 10,00,02,10
29/07/2015 Rudraksh
5
Infracity
Private
Limited
10/04/201 17180 10 2910 4,99,93,800
6/10/2015 Rudraksh
5
Infracity
Private
Limited
(C)
Source: Data from Form FC-TRS
From the table above it is clear that valuation exercise was done backwardly. For instances first we paid Rs
100 crores, then Rs 25 crores, then Rs 10 crores and finally Rs. 5Cr..
FEM (Transfer or Issue of Security by a Person Resident Outside India) Regulations, 2000 “4. Restriction on
an Indian entity to issue security to a person resident outside India or to record a transfer of security from or to
such a person in its books.
Save as otherwise provided in the Act or Rules or Regulations made thereunder, an Indian entity shall not issue
any security to a person resident outside India or shall not record in its books any transfer of security from or to
such person: Provided that the Reserve Bank may, on an application made to it and for sufficient reasons,
permit an entity to issue any security to a person resident outside India or to record in its books transfer of
security from or to such person, subject to such conditions as may be considered necessary.
(i) In case of listed company, at the 6[market price prevailing on the floor of the recognized stock exchanges]
(ii) In case of equity shares, preference shares or debentures of unlisted company, at a price not exceeding that
arrived at as per any internationally accepted pricing methodology for valuation of shares on arm's length
basis, duly certified by a Chartered Accountant or a SEBI registered Merchant Banker. The guiding principle
would be that the non-resident investor is not guaranteed any assured exit price at the time of making such
investment/agreements and shall exit at the price prevailing at the time of exit, subject to lock-in-period
requirement.
(2) (i) A person resident outside India, not being a non-resident Indian or an overseas corporate body, may
transfer by way of sale or gift the shares or convertible debentures or warrants of an Indian company or units
of an Investment Vehicle] held by him or it to any person resident outside India;
(ii) A non-resident Indian may transfer by way of sale or gift, the shares or convertible debentures or warrants
of an Indian company or units of an Investment Vehicle] held by him or it to another non-resident Indian only;
(iii) A person resident outside India holding the 6[shares or convertible debentures or warrants of an Indian
company or units of an Investment Vehicle] in accordance with these Regulations,
(a) may transfer the same to a person resident in India by way of gift;
(b) may sell the same on a recognized Stock Exchange in India through a register broker.” In the valuation
working, it is shown that all project cost was incurred by June, 2013. It is only additional cost of Rs 125 crore
& marketing cost of Rs 6.85 crore shown as to be incurred after that. (A) JP Morgan personnel have never met
the buyer. Both the Companies Neelkanth Buildcraft Private Limited & Rudraksh Infracity Private Limited
were formed in the year 2013 having a capital of Rs 0.01 crore each for the specific purpose of buying shares
from JP Morgan. (B) No person from Mauritius travelled to India and no person from India travelled to
Mauritius. Indian people signed the contract in India and Mauritius people signed the contract in Mauritius.
Buyer did not carried out any due diligence nor it appointed any valuer. (C) The Sales agreement was drafted
by JP Morgan team, buyers are not aware of it.
(D) We spoke to the director of Neelkanth Buildcraft Private Limited & Rudraksh Infracity Private Limited
namely Vivek Mittal & Chandan Kumar. Both of them refused meeting with any person/entity from JP
Morgan. They are not aware of that any time they have bought these shares.
No substantial fundswere used in the construction of the project. The address of the Company who purchased
share from JP Morgan is the address of Group Statutory Auditor Mr. Anil Mittal. (A) Mr Chandan Kumar,
director in Neelkanth Buildcraft Private Limited & Rudraksh Infracity Private Limited is an office boy in the
office of Statutory Auditor Mr Anil Mittal.
(B) Mr Vivek Mittal, another director in Neelkanth Buildcraft Private Limited is nephew of Statutory Auditor
Mr Anil Mittal & does small timejobs Facts Amrapali Zodiac Developers Pvt Ltd incorporated on 18th
December 2009. As per the Share Subscription Agreement dated 9th September, 2010, JP Morgan invested 85
crore on 20th October 2010 with an understanding to have a preferential claim on profits called distributable
surplus in the ratio of 75% to JP Morgan and 25% to promoters namely Amrapali Homes Project Private
Limited and Ultra Home Construction Private Limited. The said investment was repatriated to JP Morgan as
under:
Extracts of Master Circular no.8/2010-11 dated July 01, 2010 on External Commercial Borrowings and Trade
Credits External Commercial Borrowings (‘ECBs’) refer to commercial loans in the form of bank loans,
buyers credit, suppliers credit, securitized instruments (eg floating rate notes and fixed rate bonds, non
convertible, optionally convertible or partially convertible preference shares) availed of from non-resident
lenders with a minimum average maturity of 3 years.
b) Approval route.
A) Under Automatic route • Eligible borrowers can be corporates, including those in the hotel, hospital,
software sectors (registered under the Companies Act 1956) and Infrastructure Finance companies, Housing
Finance companies and Non Banking Finance Companies.
• Recognised lenders can be international banks, suppliers of equipments, foreign collaborators and foreign
equity holders • All in cost ceilings for ECBs under automatic route are: • Average maturity period 3 to 5
years- 300 basis points over 6 months London Interbank Offered Rate (‘LIBOR’) • Average maturity period
more than 5 years – 500 basis points over 6 months LIBOR • ECBs are eligible for end use for investment for
import of capital goods, industrial sector, infrastructure sector and specified service sectors. However,
proceeds of ECBs should not be used for acquisition of land in any of these permitted uses. • ECBs are not
permitted to be utilized for real estate sector. B) Under Approval route • Certain ECBs which are not under
automatic route are under approval route.
ECBs are not permitted to be utilized for real estate. However, the term real estate excludes development of
integrated township as defined by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, DIPP, SIA (FC Division), Press
Note 3 (2002 Series) dated January 4, 2002. As per the said press note, development of integrated township
includes housing, commercial premises, hotels, resorts, city and regional level urban infrastructure facilities
such as roads and bridges, mass rapid transit systems and manufacture of building materials. Development of
land and providing allied infrastructure will form an integrated part of township’s development.
Hedging required:
Minimum mandatory hedging is required @70% of principal plus interest (both) of ECB where Minimum
Average Maturity Period is less than 5 years. Minimum tenor should be one (1) year thereafter to be rollover
till expiry of ECB Compliance under FEMA ECB Compliance Borrowers are required to submit a report about
signing of loan agreement with the lender for obtaining Loan Registration Number (LRN) within 7 days of the
signing it to RBI in form ECB. Borrowers are required to report monthly about actual ECB transactions
through form ECB-2 to AD Category I bank within 7 days from close of the month.
Companies Act 1956 Amrapali Zodiac Developers Pvt Ltd could not have bought back its own shares from JP
Morgan as a company cannot buy back its own shares as per the provisions of section 77 of the Companies Act
1956. Section 77 states “(1) No company limited by shares, and no company limited by guarantee and having a
share capital, shall have power to buy its own shares, unless the consequent reduction of capital is effected and
sanctioned in pursuance of sections 100 to 104 or of section 402.” Even otherwise, as per Section 77A, a
company can purchase its own shares from
(i) free reserves; Where a company purchases its own shares out of free reserves, then a sum equal to the
nominal value of the share so purchased shall be transferred to the capital redemption reserve and details of
such transfer shall be disclosed in the balance-sheet or
(iii) proceeds of any shares or other specified securities. A Company cannot buyback its shares or other
specified securities out of the proceeds of an earlier issue of the same kind of shares or specified securities.
(b) A special resolution has been passed in the general meeting of the company authorising the buy-back. In
the case of a listed company, this approval is required by means of a postal ballot. Also, the shares for buy
back should be free from lock in period/non transferability. The buy back can be made by a Board resolution If
the quantity of buyback is or less than ten percent of the paid up capital and free reserves;
(c) The buy-back is of less than twenty-five per cent of the total paid-
up capital and free reserves of the company and that the buy-back of equity shares in any financial year shall
not exceed twenty-five per cent of its total paid-up equity capital in that financial year;
(d) The ratio of the debt owed by the company is not more than twice the capital and its free reserves after such
buy-back;
(e) There has been no default in any of the following i. in repayment of deposit or interest payable thereon, ii.
redemption of debentures, or preference shares or iii. payment of dividend, if declared, to all shareholders
within the stipulated time of 30 days from the date of declaration of dividend or iv. repayment of any term loan
or interest payable thereon to any financial institution or bank;
(f) There has been no default in complying with the provisions of filing of Annual Return, Payment of
Dividend, and form and contents of Annual Accounts;
(g) All the shares or other specified securities for buy-back are fully paid-up;
(h) The buy-back of the shares or other specified securities listed on any recognised stock exchange shall be in
accordance with the regulations made by the Securities and Exchange Board of India in this behalf; and
(i) The buy-back in respect of shares or other specified securities of private and closely held companies is in
accordance with the guidelines as may be prescribed.
Misrepresentation of facts by investing the funds in the form of private equity in the project namely Zodiac and
then diverting it from there to promoters and the promoters associated companies As ECBs were not permitted
in real estate sector under automatic route, JP Morgan gave the said borrowings, the nomenclature of equity
shares having different return on investment as compared to other equity shareholders. In fact JP Morgan
remitted Rs.60 crore to Amrapali Leisure Valley Developers Pvt Ltd as ECB without obtaining approval from
competent authority. Immediately on receipt of funds by Amrapali Leisure Valley Developers Pvt Ltd, the
funds were transferred to promoters and associate companies of the group. Had JP Morgan invested in the
form of ECB, following would have been the compliances to be fulfilled by recipient:
c) withhold tax on interest payment to JP Morgan under section 195 of the ITA. As per Article 11 of the
Avoidance of double taxation agreement between India and Mauritius tax shall be charged @7.5% of the gross
amount of interest.
d) In fact JP Morgan would have to file its income tax return u/s 139 of ITA in India due to withholding tax on
its interest income borrower.
Relevant questions from FAQ issued by RBI with regard to the Foreign Exchange Management (Transfer or
Issue of Security by a Person Resident Outside India) Regulations, 2017 dated November 7, 2017 as amended
from time to time:
“Q.29: What is the concept of downstream investment and Indirect Foreign Investment?
Answer: Downstream investment is investment made by an Indian entity which has total foreign investment in
it or an Investment Vehicle in the capital instruments or the capital, as the case may be, of another Indian
entity.
If the investor company has total foreign investment in it and is not owned and not controlled by resident
Indian citizens or is owned or controlled by persons resident outside India then such investment shall be
“Indirect Foreign Investment” for the investee company.” “Q.41: What is an investment vehicle?
Answer: Investment Vehicle is an entity registered and regulated under relevant regulations framed by SEBI or
any other authority designated for the purpose. For the purpose of Schedule 8 of FEMA 20(R), an Investment
Vehicle is a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) governed by the SEBI (REITs) Regulations, 2014, an
Infrastructure Investment Trust (InvIt) governed by the SEBI (InvIts) Regulations, 2014 and an Alternative
Investment Fund (AIF) governed by the SEBI (AIFs) Regulations, 2012. It does not include a Venture Capital
Fund registered under the erstwhile SEBI (Venture Capital Funds) Regulations, 1996.” SUMMARY- NET
SURPLUS/DEFICIT
1) Amount Realisable from the sale of the unsold inventory and from home buyers (Residential and
commercial) in various projects and its extent.
Net surplus/deficit
Total Estimated
Cost to Net
R
efund/
S.No Name of company Receivable Cost still to
Complete Surplus/
S
hifitng
from Buyers be incurred
by NBCC (Deficit)
Amrapali Princely 38 -
-
1 Estate Pvt.Ltd.
(6)
12 -
-
70 -
-
Amrapali Leisure 1,887 267
-
1,586
5 Park Pvt.Ltd.
(196)
16 -
-
6 Amrapali Grand
- 16
Amrapali Homes 7 -
-
1,657
9 Valley Pvt Ltd
(222)
11 Ltd
(357)
12 Pvt.Ltd.
(13)
69 -
-
Amrapali Sapphire
13 Developers Pvt Ltd
(20)
The unsold Inventory in the various schemes where forensic audit was carried out is to the tune of Rs
1,958.82crores spread-over in 5,229Flats.
*Unsold inventory of Amrapali Centurian Park Private Limited comprises of three projects namely- Amrapali
Tropical Garden, Amrapali Terrace Homes, O2 Valley.
We have not been provided the inventory details of O2 Valley, the data mentioned here and included in
calculation of surplus/deficit is agreed in discussion with CMD, Amrapali Group.
The unsold Inventory in respect of the commercial shop space amounts to Rs.162 crores spread-over in
5schemes.
*487 units are available in commercial project Tech Park which are yet to be examine. The detailed list of
inventory is attached in ANNEXURE XXII.2.
15. Sale of Flats at lower prices (Under-Valued Transactions) While scrutinizing the record for sale of flats, we
have observed that number of the flats were sold at low prices as compared to the prices existing on or near to
those dates and on which rates sales were made to other home buyers. It is further submitted that some of the
flats have been sold even at rates as low as RS. 1,000 - RS. 1,400 per square feet which is even lower than the
cost of construction. No satisfactory explanation has been given to us for the same. Possibility of taking cash
outside the books of accounts cannot be ruled out. Total Amount involved in under-valued transaction is
enclosed Annexure 26-A (Volume III Page no 584-586 ) & at Annexure S-7 (Supplementary Report page no
2842-2893). The amount shown below is the minimum and it may be in the range of 1,000 crore. Since the
sample size is 5856 against the total number of more than 42,000 flats.
Developers Private
Limited
Audit Report)
7 #Ultra Home 524 30.87
2811
Construction Private
(Supplementary
Limited
Audit Report)
8 #Amrapali Centurian 1,912 43.12
2811
Park Private
(Supplementary
Limited
Audit Report)
9 #Amrapali Princely 146 6.70
2811
Estate Private Limited
(Supplementary
Audit Report)
10 #Amrapali Zodiac 107 6.75
2811
Developers Private
(Supplementary
Limited
Audit Report)
11 #Amrapali Patel 179 27.31
2811
Platinum
(Supplementary
Audit Report)
Total 5,856 321.31
Note: *These calculations are based upon the rates, where the sale consideration of the flat is less by more than
25% of the average sale price of the project.
# These calculations are based upon the rate of Rs.2000/- per sq. ft. and where flats were sold lesser than the
rate of Rs.2000/- per sq. ft.
16. Group investment in other projects The group started demerging and delinking the good projects from
the brand name “Amrapali” though these projects were initially launched as Amrapali projects. The said
projects identified till the date of writing of the report are La Residentia, Vinayaka square, Heartbeat City, O2
Habitat.
La Residentia A big project having more than 3,200 dwelling units was launched in 2010-11 having an equity
shareholding of 19.75% in the name of Stunning Construction Pvt Ltd.
• Stunning Construction Private Limited (‘Stunning’), an Amrapali group company, holds 19.75% shares in the
company. Stunning has been a consortium partner since beginning and land was allotted by Noida Authorities
to the 5 members consortium including Stunning. The project was launched as an Amrapali group project and
was marketed accordingly. As per the discussion with directors of La Residentia Developers Private Limited,
they broke up with Amrapali group in 2017. 2017 is the year when writ petition was filed before the Honorable
Supreme Court. It is informed to us that a marketing agreement was entered into between La Residentia
Developers Private Limited and Amrapali group (name of the company not known) that Amrapali group would
market its project for a consideration of Rs.16 crore. It was informed by Mr. Sanjeev Kumar (director of La
Residentia Developers Private Limited and a very old friend of Mr. Shiv Priya, director, Amrapali group) that
though the agreement was signed but Amrapali group didn’t provide a copy of the agreement. It proves that
Amrapali director were having significant influence on La Residentia Developers Private Limited that they had
an authority even not to give a copy of the agreement to a person/entity who has signed it. • Out of Rs.16 crore,
which were to be paid to Amrapali group as per the agreement, Rs 4 crore were paid to Saffron Propmart
Consultancy Private Limited Owned and controlled by CFO Chander Wadhwa) under a verbal instruction of
Mr. Adikhari, GM/DG accounts of Amrapali group. It is to be noted that directors of La Residentia Developers
Private Limited were acting and working under the supervision of Mr. Adhikari who was a middle level
management officer. It indicates that the project was conceived by Mr. Anil Kumar Sharma & Mr. Shiv Priya
directors of Amrapali group and Mr. Sanjeev Kumar, Mr. Mukesh Kumar Roy and others were only a front.
• it is very clear that there was no contribution of funds from the consortium partners whatever funds
contributed by the consortium partners were not only withdrawn within a very short period but over and above
that extra funds were given to them in the name of interest free loans and advances.
• Amrapali group companies have transferred some of their buyers to the company. We found that the list of
unsold inventory was sent to Mr. Anil Sharma and it was he who decided that the following buyers from
Amrapali group companies be shifted to La Residentia this proves that La Residentia was under the direct
control of Mr. Anil Sharma and Mr. Shiv Priya and is an entity of Amrapali group. • The company is also
using the Brand name/trademark of Amrapali group on its letterheads.
17. Summary of amounts recoverable standing as debit balances in books of accounts Amrapali group of
companies had several amounts lying in debit balances in the form of advances recoverable on account of long
term loans to third parties, short term loans given to third parties, advances given for purchase of plots,
advances given to creditors for materials/others etc. Amrapali group of companies were mostly diverting loan
funds as well as home buyers funds to directors, key managerial personnel, relatives, group companies and
third parties. They did construction activity only in part and created a circle for movements of funds vide
bogus expenses or hollow transactions. Funds were given to several parties in the garb of advances against
purchase of land or for purchasing material for construction and booked as sundry creditors with debit
balances. However, in effect such amounts were neither returned nor any expense was booked against them.
Such amounts are as old as 2006-07, which have not been returned or no expense has been booked till date.
Total of such recoverable amounts to Rs.582 crore.
It can be seen from records that the recoverable are due since long and there are mostly no movements
subsequently either in the form of booking of expenses or receipts. Out of the amounts recoverable from
parties in case of Ultra Home Construction Pvt Ltd, 20 parties having huge balances recoverable were called
for personal interviews. 7 parties appeared and no satisfactory explanation was provided (Refer Annexure X.1,
Volume IV page no 1015-1019)
18. Assets created out of diverted funds Refer Page no 550 to 557 of Volume II
19. Cars The Company has bought many luxury cars and other cars out of the funds of the homebuyers.
Many of the cars were transferred in the name of the relatives / employees without passing any entries in the
books of accounts and receiving any money from the transferees.
Moreover, the cars were transferred in the name of the persons who was not associated with the company
which originally bought the cars. We have already reported the matter in the court hearings and the honourable
court has ordered for the sale of the said luxury cars. Out of the above 15 cars only 9 were made available for
physical verification.
20. HOMEBUYERS The group constructed and booked/sold residential and commercial units:
c) Continued to book till any inventory was left over in the projects. The customers booked the flat for:
a) Abode;
b) Investment;
c) barter in advance;
d) adjusting their amounts in respect of work done in same project (creditors of same projects)
e) adjusting their amounts in respect of work done in other projects (creditors of other projects)
During this procedure, we were informed that the data related to customers was maintained in the software
FAR VISION as well as manually of some of the projects. The Data in such fashion is intentionally maintained
to avoid findings in future the gaps.
1) It is found that the promoters/directors/senior management of the company were treating the inventory of
the projects as personal asset and started allotting the unsold inventory to various persons/entities by passing
an accounting entry in the Accounting software tally.
2) We found that 14 flats were booked in the name of Mr. Rajesh Viz in the project Amrapali Centurion Park,
Terrace Homes. The customer data in FAR Vision provided, shows only Rs 10,000/- received for each flat
from him as a booking amount. We did not find his name in the tally data of books of accounts of Amrapali
Centurion Park Pvt. Ltd. We sent Emails to him to confirm the same but did not get any satisfactory response
from him. He did not come and avoided meeting us for last 5 months.
3) We found differences in amount shown as per the records i.e. amount received as per Customer data base
sheet extracted from software FAR VISION and the amount actually paid by the customer. We came to know
about the differences in receivable after sending e mails/ speaking over the phone to the customers. A list of
such differences is given on sample basis (Page No. 483)
4) We found the following 2 customers who had been handed over the possession but still appearing in the
Customer database as undelivered. Both have paid less than 50% as per company records.
provided to us)
1 Amrapali Zodiac MR. SAMEER JP-03 Handed
over Not handed over
KR. SUNEJA
2 Amrapali Princely MRS. FP-01 Handed
over Not handed over
Estate MRIGANKA
PRABHAT
5) For amount received there is a mismatch in the tally records/ FV accounts and customer data in software Far
Vision. Amount received from a customer with flat no. though shown in customer database but didn’t account
for in the tally. List on sample basis is given (Page No.
486)
6) We found a mismatch that the name of customer is different in accounting package (tally& ERP FAR
Vision) and customer data record in FAR VISION. We were not explained satisfactorily the reason for the
same. (Page No. 489)
7) We found a no. of customers/buyers whose know your customer (KYC) is not available (N/A).For example
PAN, e-mail, phone and address (Page No. 490)
8) The supplier of material and provider of services were unsecured creditors for the amount claimed by them.
There are a number of flats booked against the amount claimed as due. All this was done in 2015-17. There are
flats allotted to parties (unsecured creditors) in different projects irrespective of whether any service was
provided/ material supplied to the same project or not. We propose the following order for allotment of flats to
the persons/ entity who have booked the flats subject to the verification of their claim:
(c) For investment against barter in advance if services rendered/supplies made to the same project;
(d) To the creditor if services rendered/supplies made to the same project; and
(e) The last should be the person/ entities who have supplied and services rendered to the group companies
9) We checked the customer data on the basis of a selected criteria (customers having two or more than two
units& customers not having KYC details) and found that no money is received against the sale of those units.
The units are booked by just passing a JV. A few examples are shown below. The detailed list of units (project
wise) which we checked is also attached. (ANNEXURE-XV.28 page 2646-2658 vol. VIII) S. No. Project
Name Customer Name Unit No Unit Cost (ex ST) 1 Amrapali Grand MORPHEUS SECURITY T-7-G2
74,16,700 PVT. LTD 2 Amrapali Grand SANJEEV KUMAR T-6-G4 94,76,511 3 Amrapali Grand MAHESH
KUMAR T-6-G2 84,99,961 4 Amrapali Eden IshwarKhandelwal D-2102 84,28,450 Park 5 Amrapali Eden
AMRENDER KR JHA/ C-G01 1,40,00,000 Park SUNITA JHA 6 Amrapali Eden MAHESH KUMAR C-G02
70,75,000 Park 7 Amrapali Eden SUSHMA RANI/ VIJAY NARAYAN C-G03 96,75,859 Park RAI 8 IMT
Manesar SAI Glazing 323 82,09,095 9 IMT Manesar NOPS Infrastructure 227 87,76,128 10 IMT Manesar
NOPS Infrastructure 234 1,32,02,500 11 Amrapali village Mrs Pooja KM-1205 31,35,000 There have been
instances of duplicate allotment of flats i.e. one flat is allotted to more than one person and money is received
from both the home buyers. Sample details are given here under. The work relating to duplicate flats allotment
is still in the process of being checked.
First
Buyer Second
Buyer
Date of
S.no. Name oF Project
Booking &
Date of Booking
Flat No. Allotment Name of
Buyer Amount in Rs.Flat No. & Allotment Name of
Buyer Amount in Rs.
1 Crystal Homes T3-2301 09-11-15 Sulochana
Karwa 2,500,000 T3-2301 26-05-16 Aayush
Soni 2,013,750
2 Amrapali Princely Estate M-P01 07-11-15 Nilesh
Karwa (HUF) 5,000,000 M-P01 15-10-16
Sanjeev Kumar Goel 6,344,460
3 Amrapali Princely Estate C-P03 07-11-15 Pramod
Karwa (HUF) 5,000,000 C-P03 15-10-16
Shalabh Mittal 3,105,635
4 Amrapali Patel Platenium A-2303 26-03-10 Pramod
Karwa (HUF) 2,000,000 A-2303 20-04-12 Manjul
Kumar Tyagi 4,826,991
5 Amrapali Patel Platenium J-2401 26-03-10 Rajeswari
Karwa 1,500,000 J-2401 N/A Nissa
Hussaini -
6 Crystal Homes T1-2401 09-11-15 Nilesh
Karwa (HUF) 2,500,000 T1-2401 13-06-16 Manish
Jain 2,030,400
7 Crystal Homes T2-2403 09-11-15 Nilesh
Karwa (HUF) 2,500,000 T2-2403 28-07-16 Ajit
Pal Singh 312,500
Silicon City G1-104 24-03-11 Nilesh
Karwa & Seema Karwa 1,250,000 Tower has not been constructed
and Fake allotment is been
Ultra Home Construction Pvt Ltd allotted flats to buyers on false promises and forged documents. An instance
being in the case of Mr. Mohammad Kaif where he was allotted 3 flats i.e G-2502, G 2501 and LG-1 vide
agreements dated 22nd August 2012, 19th September 2012 and 9th January 2013, through their consortium-
Amrapali Patel Platinum and UHCPL received INR 2 crore on assured return basis. However, subsequently, it
came to the knowledge that flats mentioned in the buyer agreement never existed as 25th floor did not exist in
the approved building plan. Further, as per details provided by Mr. Kaif, as on 31st March 2017, an amount of
INR 1,40,00,000 was payable to him, however, as per books of accounts (in tally data), an amount of INR
1,70,00,000 was payable to him by UHCPL.
Hi Tech City Developers Pvt Ltd has huge amount of Trade Receivables of INR 1.64 crores Whereas , the
project under this Company i.e. Amrapali Empire has been completed. Most of the flats have been handed over
and registry has been done. We fail to understand as to why the aforesaid amount is still appearing as
recoverable from various home buyers. This implies it was received in cash and not accounted for. The
complete list of all such flat owners along with their sale amount and amount received is enclosed below:
UNIT
Balance
Sr No BUYER NAME Total Cost
Total Received
NO.
Amount
It is worth mentioning here that of the above 33 home buyers most of them are employees/ ex-employees of
the Company. The management has done under-valued registry for all these cases. We are of the view that the
management has under-valued these registries to evade the stamp duty to be paid to the government and has
taken the money outside the books from these employees and these amounts outstanding in the books are only
book entries and should be recovered from the management.
21. Misrepresentation of Facts As per the information provided and the records made available to us, Flat No
C-704 in Amrapali Castle and Flat No D-702 in Amrapali Eden Park were shown as vacant flats and were
provided to NBCC for the purpose of sale. However, we have received letters from Mr Manoj Kumar and Mr
Maneesh Gaur in Amrapali Castle and Amrapali Eden Park respectively along with many Annexures.
(Payment receipts, NOC, possession letter).that the flats have been booked by them
9) While scrutinizing the customer data, we found a case where the flat is sold at discount. The total value of
the flat is booked as a discount. There may be many more such cases.
Valley LTD.
We are informed that Mr.Adhikari Debi Prasad Das (GM/DGM Accounts) and Mr. Mohit Gupta (Director
Marketing) were directly responsible for accounting and collection of receivables and marketing of flats.
We interviewed both the persons several times. Both kept on changing their stand/answers and did not
cooperate in answering our queries. Their answer to every question was that they are not aware. They did not
provide many documents and the laptops which are in their possession. In spite of repeated reminders, Mr.
Mohit Gupta has not made available the complete data with respect to home buyers/flat owners.
We found Mr Mohit Gupta and Mr Adhikari Devi Prasad Das directly responsible for all the wrongdoings in
booking of receivables, marketing of the flats and in handing over the possession of the flats. Utilities like
Milk booth, Nursery schools, Senior secondary schools, Nursing homes allotted to various parties should be
cancelled.
LIST OF FLATS (Residential & Commercial) ALLOTED TO BROKERS AND SUPPLIERS 833 Flats
booked (identified till now) in the name of various vendors should be attached and be released at last till the
last home buyers gets his/her flat.If there is a shortfall , then the flats should be treated as inventory and be sold
.
These are the 353 flats booked in the name of various vendors parties without receipt of any sum. The flats has
not been included in inventory and will be available for sale after giving a chance to the Flat buyer if he/she/it
introduce any documents to substantiate the claim. Refer list below:
It has further been observed that, 75 flats adjustments were made between M/s LA Residentia and Amrapali
Group of Companies against the aforesaid Branding Income. These home buyers have already been allotted
flats in M/s LA Residentia. Hence, the 75 Flats booked by Amrapali Group in various schemes should be
treated as vacant. (Volume-I Page No. 200). The Complete List of all such flat has been enclosed as Annexure
25-A. (Volume III Page no 582-583)
22. Sureka group Amrapali and Sureka’s have a very long and intricate association starting officially with the
partnership venture ‘Amrapali Homes’ in 2006 wherein Ultra Home Construction Private Limited and Mauria
Udyog Limited is partner and developed project in name of Amrapali Homes in Indirapuram then Amrapali
Grand wherein Ultra Home Construction Private Limited and Bihariji Ispat Udyog Limited were partners,
though the land was allotted to Bihariji Ispat Udyog Limited. Initially Amrapali Group ventured like these
types of association as he was independently not able to meet the net worth, turnover and other eligibility
criteria for land allotment by Noida authorities. They then next associated in Sapphire Project wherein
Sureka’s family participated as shareholders and directors in the Company. Every Joint Venture used to have
an unexecuted profit sharing and investment arrangement. Since the company didn’t declared dividend ever,
the profits were drawn by Sureka family in the nature of advances which has majorly been squared off against
billing from Mauria Udyog Limited, Jotindra Steel and their other related companies. Some of the amount is
still lying as advance in the books of accounts of Amrapali Group. In 2012 Amrapali Group invested in 25%
stake in Sureka family’s three projects Heart Beat City, Pebbles Prolease, Three Platinum Softech. Apart from
subscribing to share capital, the further investment was made directly as advance or billing from Amrapali
Group to these companies and some through shell companies as well. Further they did a project in Ultra Home
Construction Private Limited with Mozambique. This project was planned, coordinated and managed by Mr
Navneet Sureka in the name of Ultra Home Construction Private Limited and whatever advance was
sanctioned and disbursed by the Government of Mozambique through EXIM bank to Ultra Home Construction
Private Limited was eventually diverted to Sureka family through billing from Jotindra Steel and Tubes
Limited, Mauria Udyog Limited, etc. A separate bank account of Ultra Home Construction Private Limited
was opened in State Bank of Patiala, Faridabad branch where signatory was Mr Akhil Sureka who used to
operate the account from there. The entire transactions of LC and EXIM bank was routed from that account.
Navneet Sureka visited more in the period of contract finalization to Mozambique Partner in the following
projects:
• Amrapali Sapphire Developers Pvt. Ltd. – 10.52% of shareholding BihariJi Ispat Udyog Limited • Amrapali
Smart City Pvt Ltd – 10% shareholding held by Mauria Udyog Ltd • Amrapali Homes – 5% - Mauria Udyog
Ltd (Rs.20 crore given as an advance before 2008 and is recoverable) • Amrapali grand – 10% BihariJi Ispat
Udyog Limited –We were informed that the land was allotted in the name of Bihariji Ispat Udyog Ltd and
construction and development work was done by Amrapali group.
Directors in the following companies • Amrapali Leisure Valley Pvt Ltd – Akhil Sureka Cheque signatories in
the following companies • Amrapali Leisure Valley Pvt Ltd • Amrapali Dream Valley Pvt Ltd • Amrapali
Leisure Valley Developers pvt Ltd • Amrapali centurian Park Pvt Ltd From the above, it is clear that Sureka
group directors namely Vishnu Sureka, Navneet Sureka and Akhil sureka were promoters in amrapali group.
They were in equal control of affairs with other promoters (Anil Sharma Shiv Priya, etc.). They not only
invested as a promoter heavy amount but also provided the land allotted to Bihariji Ispat a sureka group
company. But the amount invested was withdrawn in a very short period by other associate companies in the
form of interest, supplies, provision of services etc. it was found out that there were many other suppliers who
never interacted with any of the directors/staff but supplied material to Amrapali through Akhil and Navneet
Sureka. In our opinion, this was nothing but accommodation bills and a form of withdrawing funds from the
group. None of the employess/ directors of the sureka companies knew that Sureka group has supplied
,material to Amrapali group. Though sureka group has a policy and procedure wthat for any item above Rs,.
5,000/- a purchase order would be issued but it was not followed in the case of supplies to Amrapali.
Surprising all the transactions worth more than 500 crore has been handled single handedly by Navneet and
akhil sureka without involving any of the directors and employees. All the cheques were also signed by Usreka
family and not by any other directors. It is pertinent to note that the amount paid for FSI purchased by Suraka
group companies was taken back on the same day by routing through a number of companies.All such cheques
for money laundering were signed by Akhil Sureka Furthermore, it is found that the amount so paid ie Rs. 80
crore was also received from suppliers of the Amrapali group. Therefore in our opinion,not only FSi should be
canceled but the amount os Rs. 80 crore is recovereable from them. They adopted the same methodoly.
Formed various business entities, appointed small time employees the directors in these companies and routed
fundsof 100s of crores and it may be in the range of 1000s crores.. None of the directors were knowing about
any of the business transactions. Further more most of the directors never attended any board meetings,knew
about nature of business the company does, name of other directors in the company and so on. We are not sure
who was teacing the fraudlent practices to whom, whether Sureka to Amrapali or vice versa.
It was observed Rs.13.44 crore paid to Sureka Public Charitable Trust were transferred to donation account
subsequently. It is submitted that Sureka Public Charitable Trust is a group institution of Jotindra Steels &
Tubes Limited, which is also under the forensic audit. This should be recovered from the Jotindra Steels &
Tubes Limited. Sureka group used several companies to route funds from Amrapali group to Sureka group, an
example being in the case of Amrapali Infrastructure Pvt Ltd, where the company received Rs.3.23 crore from
“Synergy Freightways Private Limited” from 26th March 2015 to 30th March 2015. On 31st March 2015 an
amount to Rs.4.18 crore was paid to the said party through 16 separate transactions and thereby leading to a
debit balance recoverable from the party amounting to Rs.0.9,5 crore as on 31st March 2015. This amount
should be recovered from the Sureka Group.
It is worthwhile to mention here that M/s Synergy Freightways Private Limited is an associate Company of
M/s Jotindra Steel and Tubes Limited. Further, there are no business transactions with the said party except
routing of funds.
Another example being in the case of Shriv Buildmat Private Limited where one of the directors is common
with MauriaUdyog Limited. On scrutiny of ledger accounts of Shriv Buildmat, it was observed that during FY
2014-15 and 2015-16, the said company had almost 100% sales to Amrapali group of companies. It was also
observed that one flat was allotted to Mr. Atul Kumar, Director of ShrivBuildmat Private Limited in Verona
Heights, against the amount due to the said company. This adjustment is not genuine and the relevant amount
should be recovered from Mr. Atul Kumar or his flat may be attached. As per ledger account advance to
Amrapali for flat, a sum of INR 34.05 lakhs has been shown as recoverable as on 31st March, 2015. There is
no name of the Company to which such advance has been given in the books of the Amrapali Group of
Companies. Thus, this amount of INR 34.05 Lakhs is shown as recoverable is not genuine. A sum of INR
53.21 Lakhs has been debited to Labour Charges Contractors on account of bill no. SBPL/Noida/010 dated
13/3/2013 has been recorded in the books of Amrapali Infrastructure Private Limited on 16/03/2015.
RN Traders During the financial year 2016-17 and 2017-18, a sum of INR 17.63 crores has been debited to this
party and standing recoverable as per Raw Tally Data, till date as per details given below:
Total 2,714.02
Further, there is no Name, Pan or Address available in the records of M/s RN Traders. It was further observed
that there are no business transactions with M/s RN Traders. It is possible that this amount of INR 2,714.02
Lakhs has been withdrawn by the management for their own personal use and should be recovered from the
management. BiharijiIspat Udyog Limited being one of the partners of Amrapali Grand always had negative
capital. They withdrew much more than what they brought into the business. There is no substance in them
being called as capital contributors to the business of Amrapali Grand. As on 1st April 2008 they had
withdrawn INR 12 crore and invested a capital contribution of INR 1.5 crore. As on 31st July 2018, they have
debit balance of INR 1.67 crore and negative capital of INR 30,380. They always withdrew homebuyers funds
for misusing for their own agendas apart from the business.
Out of INR 12 crore given to BihariJiIspat Udyog Limited, they returned INR 6.45 crore through bank and the
balance amount was adjusted against receivables from Ultra Home Construction Pvt Ltd and against capital
contribution by BiharijiIspat Udyog Ltd. Amrapali Grand gave loans and advances to below parties, which are
recoverable as on 31st July 2018 amounting to INR 25.73 crore as per Tally data.
It has been observed that amounts paid to parties above were mostly routed to Quality Synthetics Pvt Ltd
which primarily belongs Sureka family. For example:
a) Payment of Rs 2,74,68,000/- has been made to Mr Ajay Kumar from 2007-08 to 2010-11 as advance
recoverable. Out of this, Rs 77,00,000 was paid by him for purchase of property located at Jaypee Greens,
Noida & Rs 50,00,000 was paid by him to Quality Synthetics Industries Limited.
b) Payment of Rs 10,03,55,900 has been made to Mr Anil Kumar Sharma from 2007-08 to July, 2018. Out of
this, Rs 3,00,00,000 was paid to Quality Synthetics Industries Limited.
c) Payment of Rs 7,10,50,000 has been made to Mr Shiv Priya from 2007-08 to September 2010. Out of this,
Rs 1,00,00,000 was paid to Quality Synthetics Industries Limited.
While reviewing the books of accounts of Amrapali Infrastructure Private Limited and M/s Jotindra Steel and
Tubes Limited, it has been observed that Amrapali Infrastructure has made purchases from M/s Jotindra Steel
against Letter of Credit. The letter of credit has been discounted by M/s Jotindra Steel with the banks. The
discounting charges of INR 1.30 Crores have been debited by M/s Jotindra Steel to M/s Amrapali
Infrastructure. We fail to understand the reason for this treatment. In normal course of business, the supplier is
the person who bears the discounting charges in respect of the transactions as the margin when sold on Letter
of Credit are generally higher. This amount of INR 1.30 Crores on account of discounting charges of Letter of
Credit Should be recovered from M/s Jotindra Steel and Tubes Limited. i. It has also been observed that M/s
Jotindra Steel and Tubes Limited has issued service invoices for erection, shifting and transportation charges
amounting to INR 96 lakhs approximately during the financial year 2014-15 as per details given below:
Name of Gross
Nature of the
Date Bill number the Party Amount Tax
Total Service
Jotindra
JST/FBD/SG/000 Steels & 5,000,00 618,00
Erection
6/6/2014 1 Tubes 0 0
5,618,000 Charges
Jotindra
JST/FBD/SG/000 Steels & 2,532,00
Transportatio
6/6/2014 2 Tubes 0 78,239
2,610,239 n Charges
Jotindra
12/1/201 Steels &
Transportatio
4 Bill not available Tubes 247,500 7,648
255,148 n Charges
Jotindra
12/1/201 Steels &
Transportatio
4 Bill not available Tubes 365,000 11,279
376,279 n Charges
Jotindra
Steels &
Transportatio
2/1/2015 Bill not available Tubes 221,400 6,841
228,241 n Charges
Jotindra
Steels &
Transportatio
2/1/2015 Bill not available Tubes 182,700 5,646
188,346 n Charges
Jotindra
3/31/201 Steels &
Transportatio
5 Bill not available Tubes 164,700 5,089
169,789 n Charges
Jotindra
3/31/201 Steels &
Transportatio
5 Bill not available Tubes 216,000 6,675
222,675 n Charges
9
,668,71
Further, on scrutiny of the invoices issued by the JSTB it appears that the invoices raised for the above services
are completely different from the invoices issued regularly and are prima facie non-genuine. Hence, the same
should be recovered from JSTB or the Company Management as both the parties have been partnering in
various projects.
ii. It is further observed that purchases amounting to INR 7.09 Crores, INR 59.53 Crores and INR 47.04 Crores
has been made from this party in M/s Amrapali Infrastructure Private Limited during the financial year 2013-
14, 2014-15 and 2015-16 respectively. While sample checking of the purchase bills, it was noted that the
goods consignment notes enclosed with the purchase bill are issued by M/s Synergy Freightways Private
Limited which is also a group Company of Jotindra Steel and Tubes Limited. Goods consignment note
enclosed with the purchase bills don’t seem to be genuine in view of the undermentioned observations:
1. We sent a letter to M/s Synergy Freightways Private Limited as per address on record which has been
received back as undelivered.
2. Statement of Mr. Akhil Sureka, Managing Director of M/s Jotindra Steel and Tubes Limited was recorded
and it was confirmed by him that most of the purchase/ sales transactions are back to back i.e. all such
consignments are sent directly from their supplier to Amrapali Group of Companies. In these circumstances it
is not understood by us that how the consignment notes of M/s Synergy Freightways Private Limited have
been enclosed with most of the purchase bills, if the transactions were back to back for their supplies.
3. On scrutiny of the tally data/documents of Amrapali Infrastructure Private Limited and JST, it has been
observed that no freight has been paid to M/s Synergy Freightways Private Limited either by Amrapali
Infrastructure Private Limited or by JST.
This clearly establishes that all the GRs issued by M/s Synergy Freightways Private Limited are not genuine.
Further, most of the purchase invoices of JST have been shown as sale on the same date with similar
particulars/ quantity by raising the invoice on Amrapali Infrastructure Private Limited.
We are of the view that these sales invoices raised by JST are also not genuine and are mere accommodation
entries only.
Sample details of such transactions for 2 days are enclosed below:
Amt. of Sr. Date of Bill Bill (In Date of Time Time No. the bill No. Rs.) the GR GR No. In Out 1 07.02.2015
698 1,652,641 07.02.2015 698 15:48 18:12 2 07.02.2015 699 1,462,037 07.02.2015 699 16:22 17:31 3
07.02.2015 701 1,136,176 07.02.2015 701 15:52 17:49 4 07.02.2015 703 1,143,610 08.02.2015 703 16:02
12:19 5 07.02.2015 704 1,138,241 08.02.2015 704 10:09 11:57 6 07.02.2015 705 1,138,241 08.02.2015 705
10:54 14:58 7 07.02.2015 706 1,382,740 08.02.2015 706 14:43 18:04 8 08.02.2015 713 892,503 09.02.2015
713 9:20 14:29 9 08.02.2015 715 952,167 09.02.2015 715 14:28 17:23 1 08.02.2015 716 948,647 09.02.2015
716 14:23 17:22 11 08.02.2015 717 890,025 09.02.2015 717 9:45 14:40 12 08.02.2015 718 1,032,512
09.02.2015 718 9:52 14:43 13 08.02.2015 719 368,446 09.02.2015 718 9:52 14:43 14 08.02.2015 720
1,383,566 09.02.2015 720 10:27 16:08 15 08.02.2015 722 1,136,176 09.02.2015 722 10:09 17:11 16
08.02.2015 726 1,087,502 09.02.2015 - - -
17 08.02.2015 727 223,673 09.02.2015 726,727 11:47 17:13 18 08.02.2015 728 1,135,763 09.02.2015 728
14:15 18:50
4. It has been further observed that there have been unaccounted cash transactions between the Amrapali
Group of Companies and JSTB group of Companies as per documents seized during Income Tax Search in the
premises of JSTB Group of Companies which are not accounted for in the Amrapali Group of Companies.
Complete Copy of the Order of CIT (Appeals) where the observations regarding unaccounted cash were
discussed is enclosed herewith as Annexure 34-C. II. M/s Mauria Udyog Limited Ghaziabad While
scrutinizing the ledger of this party it was observed as follows:
a) During the month of December 2015 there were 7 purchase invoices from this party amounting to INR 0.65
Crores all dated 18/12/15.
b) While scrutinizing the data called from M/s Mauria Udyog Limited it was noted that they have purchased
these goods vide 7 purchase invoices dated 17/12/15 for INR 0.63 Crores.
d) Similarly, in other months also 100% of the sale is made to Amrapali Group of Companies. Since M/s
Mauria Udyog Limited is a group company of Jotindra Steels & Tubes Limited, there is very high possibility
of accommodation bills being issued and all their purchases being Non-Genuine amounting to INR 5.28 Crores
for financial year 2015-16.
e) It is further observed that all the payments against these purchases’ bills have been made by issuing letter of
credit. It seems that the Company is getting the LC’s discounted from the bank against these non-genuine bills.
When we questioned Mr. Navneet Sureka who approached Amrapali group from trust side and who was
approached in Amrapali group. He answered “he is not able to recollect”.
He didn’t cooperate otherwise how it is possible that such a huge amount donated by Amrapali group
companies and he is not able to remember the basic question. We recommend the amount donated should be
recovered from the Sureka group.
We are of the opinion that the supplies and services provided by Jotindra Steel & Tubes Limited (Rs 321 crore)
and Mauria Udyog Limited (Rs 128 crore) are prima facie bogus in nature.
1. The 2 directors namely Mr. Akhil Sureka and Mr. Navneet Sureka are equally responsible for companies
having shareholding/capital/profitsharing and should be held responsible for shortfall in cost of construction
and land dues to Noida authorities. (Refer annexure S-11 page 2960 Supplementary report)
2. Mr. Akhil Sureka opened bank account in SBI, Patiala, Faridabad in the name of Amrapali group companies
and became a signatory. Amrapali did not have any base at Faridabad but Akhil sureka operates from
Faridabad.
3. Jotindra Steel and Tubes Limited agreed to buy used construction equipments from Amrapali Infrastructure
Private Limited and paid Rs 8 crore on 13th December, 2016 and immediately transferred that funds to group
companies of Sureka group namely Jotindra Steel and Tubes Limited and others by routing the funds from
Amrapali Infrastructure Private Limited to Ultra Home Construction Private Limited.
4. The FSI’s bought by Sureka group (details given in Chart D) without making any payment. The modus
operandi was funds were paid from one company and on the same day were transferred to other Sureka group
company by routing in 2-3 Amrapali Group companies. This would not have been possible without active
involvement of Mr. Akhil Sureka, who is bank signatory. We found on sample basis that the amount of Rs. 80
crore so routed was originally started from Amrapali. The amount so claimed of Rs 80 crore has been routed
through various companies. this amount has been paid out of Amrapali group against purchases and payment
made to various vendors namely Bhagirathi Tubes (Prop Mr. SHiv Kumar)etc. It was confirmed by supplier
that he did not have any knowledge of any of the transactions and stated that all transactions were carried out
in good faith under the advice & instruction of Mr. Akhil Sureka. He further submitted that he never visited
any of the Amrapali group office, he or his staff including employees has never visited any of the offices or
site of Amrapali group. When questioned on supplies of scaffolding material and steel to and purchase sales
reconciliation of supplies along with purchase orders and sales orders, he confirmed that it is not available. The
amount so paid should be recovered from the SUREKA group companies. It was further confirmed that funds
movement were also on behalf of Akhil Sureka carried out under good faith.
5. An amount of Rs 55 crore was received from EXIM bank under line of credit for a project was to be done in
Mozambique. The group submitted a bogus bank guarantee for the said advance to Mozambique client from a
bank namely International Trade Bank Limited. Out of the funds of RS 55crore, major amount was transferred
to Companies of Sureka group.
On enquiry from the Amrapali Group we came to know that the bank guarantee was made available by Mr.
Navneet Sureka, Managing Director of Mauria Udyog Limited and that no bank exist/existed by the name
International Trade Bank Limited. It was also informed that the project was under direct control and
supervision of Mr. Navneet Sureka. It shows active involvement of Mr. Navneet Sureka in the project. Mr.
Prashant Kumar and Mr. Ram Kumar are the persons who were travelling to Mozambique and know about the
project but we could not get the contact details of these 2 persons
6. Quality Synthetics (Sureka Group) had given a loan to Amrapali Sapphire of RS 3 crore in March, 2009 at
the rate of interest of 14% p.a. The company kept on paying to Quality Synthetics when it was having no funds
for construction. The Amrapali Group was giving advances to various vendors/parties interest free and taking
loan from Quality Synthetics, at the rate of 14% p.a. It is pertinent to note that the said amount of RS 3 crore
along with all interest due totaling to RS 3,86 crore was repaid in March, 2018 when there were no funds
available for construction of flat and the case was pending before Honorable Supreme Court. The amount
should be recovered immediately. It is pertinent to note that the company is not doing any business and are
used just for the purpose of money laundering.
7. Sureka group was a promoter and was providing the net worth certificate at the time of allotment of land to
Noida/ Greater Noida authorities. At the time of making payment to the authorities for land funds were
arranged by them.
8. The directors other than the family have come and informed that they were not knowing about the
operations of the company and not attended any board meeting and papers were send to their residence for
signatures.
9. There are many other high value transactions which we are in process of examination.
10. Further to our supplementary report dated 30th April 2019. The directors of four companies of Sureka
Group appeared before us from 9th May 2019 to 18th May 2019, the directors gave their statement On the
basis of interaction in the statement given by them. We found as follows.
The four companies which bought FSI for the sham companies created for the purpose of money laundering.
Neither the shareholders nor the directors of the companies were aware of any transactions carried out by these
companies. It is worthwhile to note that Mr. Vishnu Sureka, Mr. Navneet Sureka and Mr. Akhil Sureka were
neither the shareholders nor the directors as well didn’t attend any board meeting including AGM/EGM.
However, out of three who were signatory to the bank in all the companies. Directors were not aware of who
have been the signatories. When questioned . Vishnu, navneet and akhil Sureka could not reply why they were
the signatories when they were neither shareholders, directors, employees.
Mauria Udyog Limited It was submitted in affidavit of Mauria Udyog Limited that Mauria Udyog Limited is a
manufacturer and traders. It is stated that in addition, to manufacturing of LPG Cylinders, MUL also
manufactures world class “Terry Towel” and “Apparels”. Further MUL also trades internationally &
domestically in Steel Products in addition to Ferrous & Non Ferrous metals. MUL also deals in agro
commodities such as soya bean, refined oil & deoiled cake used as fodder for the cattle feed/poultry industry.
(from affidavit of MUL para 5 page 2) We scrutinized the annual accounts of Mauria Udyog Limited and
found that the product that is TMT bars are supplied only to Amrapali Group companies and a very minuscule
quantity to other companies. In the 2010-11, TMT bar supplied for Rs. 52.97 crore and the payment received
Rs 29 crore and that is also a major part of the payment of Rs 16.5 crore was received in March.
Similarly, in the year 2012-13, supplies were made of TMT bar and the payment was received in the month of
March 2012 just before closing of the year.
Suddenly in the year 2012-13, trend is changed and Ultra Home Construction Pvt Ltd gave an advance of Rs
33 crore on various dates which was returned subsequently in the month of February and March. The above
transactions are dubious in nature because we scrutinized the supply bills of Mauria Udyog Limited and found
that Mauria Udyog Limited has supplied TMT bars only to Amrapali group of companies. It is not an item in
which Mauria Udyog Limited has dealt with any other party except a miniscule quantity of 2-3 customers who
in turn has also supplied to Amrapali group. There was no purchase order from Amrapali group to Mauria
Udyog Limited even the size of TMT bar was not mentioned on the invoice of Mauria Udyog Limited. The
rate charged by Mauria Udyog Limited are higher in the range of 15-20% then the market rate for which no
satisfactory explanation was provided to us. In year 2013-14, Ultra Home Construction Pvt Ltd gave Rs 2.45
crore to Mauria Udyog Ltd which was returned on 29th March. It is surprising to find out that in the year 2014-
15 in the month of May and June, Ultra Home Construction Pvt Ltd has accepted LCs from banks without
booking of any purchase of material. The company’s bank account is used for accommodation bills and Mauria
Udyog Ltd was paid an excess of Rs 1.16 crore over and above an accommodation bill. In the year 2015-16, in
the month of May Amrapali group started supplying TMT bars to Mauria Udyog Ltd, the purpose of supplies
of TMT bars by Ultra Home Construction Pvt Ltd was not explained to us. In the year 2015-16, total supplies
are to the extent of Rs 15.79 crore and in the year 2016- 17 amounting to Rs 5.36 crore. In the year 2015-16,
payments were made to Mauria Udyog Ltd on behalf of Shri Satguru Metalloys Pvt Ltd and Bhagirathi Tubes
of Rs 8 crore and Rs 6.50 crore respectively. We were not explained any reasons for making such payments. It
is pertinent to note that the company is not doing any business and are used just for the purpose of money
laundering. Shri Narayan Rajkumar Merchants Ltd A group company of Sureka group paid Rs 1 crore to
Amrapali Sapphire Developers Pvt Ltd. The entire amount along with interest payment of Rs 1.11 crore was
paid to Shri Narayan Rajkumar Merchants Ltd, surprisingly Amrapali group didn’t charge any interest on
payments made to Sureka group of companies but it had paid without fail interest @ 13.45% to Shri Narayan
Rajkumar Merchants Ltd. Further an amount of Rs 2 crore was paid to Shri Narayan Rajkumar Merchants Ltd
on 31st March 2018, when the matter was pending before the Honourable Supreme Court. The amount of Rs 2
crore should immediately be recovered from Shri Narayan Rajkumar Merchants Ltd and Sureka family.
It is pertinent to note that the company is not doing any business and are used just for the purpose of money
laundering. Conclusion We are of the opinion that this company floated/formed for the purpose of money
laundering and FSI sold to these companies were merely accounting and adjustment entries done by them
transferring funds from one account to another as reported earlier in our supplementary report. The modus
operandi adopted by Sureka family was the same as adopted by Amrapali Group i.e. they formed the
companies, their employees who were paid salaries in the range of Rs 20,000-Rs 60,000 the shareholders and
directors in these companies. It is pertinent to note that their signatory to the bank are family members. Mr.
Navneet Sureka and Mr. Akhil Sureka used these companies for the purpose of money laundering of funds of
Amrapali Group. The bank guarantee was bogus and we couldn’t find the bank name which issued the bank
guarantee, it appears that there was a criminal conspiracy and the bank was not in existence.
Mr. Navneet Sureka was in full control of Amrapali group companies which is very clear and can be
understood from the transactions of donation. On the instructions of Mr. Navneet Sureka, GM/DGM accounts
Mr. Adhikari was transferring funds to the trust from various group companies of Amrapali as and when
desired by him and instructed by him.
None of the directors ever attended a board meeting it was informed that the directors signed the paper under
the instructions and directions of Mr. Akhil Sureka. The fact was accepted by Mr. Akhil Sureka. This proves
that there was non compliances of holding board meetings and AGM as required u/s 174 of Companies Act,
2013. Further, the bank signatories to the bank are Mr. Vishnu Sureka and Mr. Navneet Sureka as an
authorized signatory. In what capacity they were the signatory, they could not explain and it was told by Mr.
Akhil Sureka and Mr. Vishnu Sureka that the directors were having full faith upon them therefore authorized
them as bank signatory surprisingly, directors were not the signatory this is an unique case which is difficult to
found in the corporate history.
When there was a transfer of shares from one shareholder to other in full or part of his/her shareholding there
was no transactions for consideration through banking channels.
(i) Funds invested to become the consortium partners by these 27 companies were from the Amrapali group of
companies and these 27 companies were just the face created to comply the conditions of partners and also
keeping in mind to demerge a part of the plot in furtue to the consortium partners. The funds contributed by
these 27 companies were originated and routed from the Amrapali group companies.
(ii) These companies were managed by CFO Mr. Chander Wadhwa, Company Secretary Mr. Pankaj Mehta
and CA Mr. Anil Mittal. General:
1. The companies were formed for the purpose of acquiring the shares in the 47 group companies to gain the
position of consortium partner, for villa in Goa, immovable property E/17 Surajkund Noida, D- 151 , Preet
Vihar, NewDelhi, First Floor-E-57, Preet Vihar, New Delhi. for routing the cash during demonetization and
booking flats in IT Park Greater Noida of Ultra Home Construction Private Limited. The cash on Hand of Rs.
1.98 crore. From these companies is not traceable and is misappropriated and be recovered from CA Anil
Mittal The Directors in these companies are Junior employees of Anil Mittal Statutory Auditors namely
6. Bushan Sharma
27. Rinku Computech Private Limited We recommend the forfeiture of the following investment in the group
companies by these 27 companies because the funds invested to become the consortium partners were from the
group companies and these companies were just the front created to comply the conditions of partners and also
keeping in mind to demerge a part of the plot in future to the consortium partners. The funds contributed by
these 27 companies were originated and routed from the Amrapali group companies.
Pai
d-Up Capital
S. Name of the No. of Investment in
Number of Number of % of
No. Company Shares which Amrapali
Equity Preference Equity
Group Co.
shares of Shares of Shares
res
pective respective
co.
co.
Rs. 100 of Crores of home buyers funds in active connivance of CFO Chandar Wadhwa and Statutory Auditors
Anill Mittal were routed through
1. Rinku Computech Private Limited Patel Advance JV 8,25,00,000 Case Enterprises Ltd 10,00,000 Manjeet
Singh 16,00,000 MSB Software Technologies 2,40,000 Anil Kumar Sharma 9,85,000 Bhushan Sharma
34,00,000 Digital India 19,59,110 KK Shukla 9,00,000 RV Consultant Service 95,00,000 Sundry Advances
26,99,000 Sunita Bhagwani 20,00,000 Saffron Propmart Consultancy Pvt Ltd 7,10,00,000 TOTAL
17,77,83,110 Date Particulars Transaction Balance 28-03-2018 Balance as on 28/03/2018 4,06,50,815
Payment to Saffron Propmart 29-05-2018 Less: Consultancy Private Limited 3,90,00,000 Less: Payment to
Preeti Jaiswal 1,50,000 Less: Other Payments 5,90,771 Balance before proceeds 9,10,044 from FDR Receipts
From FDR 31-07-2018 Add: Proceeds from FDR 9,86,19,983 Balance after proceeds from 9,95,30,027 FDR
Payments made out of receipts from FDR Net Payment to Saffron 31-07-2018 Less: Propmart Consultancy
3,20,00,000 Private Limited 01-08-2018 Less: Payment to Vandana 2,00,00,000 Wadhwa 23-10-2018 Less:
Payment to Ample Hotels & 1,00,00,000 Resorts 23-10-2018 Less: Payment to Moral Sales 1,00,00,000 23-
10-2018 Less: Payment to Mahalaxmi 1,00,00,000 Enterprises 23-10-2018 Less: Payment to Annex IT
70,00,000 Distributors 23-10-2018 Less: Payment to Anjali Buildcon 1,00,00,000 Other Payments 1,61,904
TOTAL 9,91,61,904 Balance as on 28-10-2018 3,68,123
24. Misuse of Bank Loan funds (Volume II Page No. 426-457) Diversion of loan funds for unapproved
purposes Amrapali group of companies obtained funds primarily from following sources:
b) In the form of loans (term loan, working capital/cash credit limits) from banks against construction linked
progress; and
c) Homebuyers also availed housing loans from banks for purchasing flats in Amrapali projects Banks granted
loans to Amrapali group under certain terms and conditions which included utilisation of loan funds for:
Observation
1. The amounts disbursed were not utilised for payment of cost of land or for payment of lease rentals or for
payment of construction cost. The banks did not monitor utilisation of funds granted by them. In fact, these
funds were diverted as loans to related and/or unrelated entities which was ultimately utilised in building
assets/purposes which were unapproved by the banks. The banks acted as mute spectator to unapproved
diversion which was almost happening evidently in all banking transactions.
2. While obtaining loan funds, Amrapali group hypothecated land on which project was being undertaken as
well as building under construction as well as material lying at project, leaving nothing with home buyers for
recovery of their payments.
3. It is also observed that the loan funds were routed through several bank accounts of the same company and
thereafter routed to third parties whereby trying to misguide the flow of funds. It clearly means these
transactions had no substance and were made only to mislead.
1. In the case of Amrapali Zodiac Developers Pvt Ltd: Bank of Baroda (Rs.75 crore), Union Bank of India
(Rs.50 crore) and Corporation Bank (Rs.25 crore) together approved term loan amounting to Rs.150 crore to
develop a group housing project at Sector-126, Noida. These funds were granted against the aforesaid term
loan, the banks secured first charge by way of assignment or creation of security interest of-
(i) All the rights, title, interest benefits, claims & demands whatsoever of the borrower in –
(b) any letter of credit, guarantee, performance bond, corporate guarantee, bank guarantee, provided by any
party under the project.
(ii) All the receivables, reserves, book debts, bank accounts, including the Escrow account & all other incomes,
present & future pertaining to the projects being financed.
(iv) Charge on the specific reserve to be created by Ultra Home Construction Private Limited, the holding
company by contributing 10% of their profits to address the contingent liabilities of their subsidiaries.
The banks also secured second charge over the land & buildings (First charge is with Noida Authority). Also
hypothecated raw Material, work in progress (pari passu charge over the project assets). Immediately on
receipt, these funds were diverted to several third parties as stated S.No. Particulars Amount 1 U Tek Sales
Corporation 6,97,39,500 2 Taneja Building material Suppliers 4,24,01,000 3 Devki Nandan Trading Co
3,00,00,000 4 Guru Kripa Traders-2 3,00,00,000 5 Shri Balaji Cement & Hardware 2,89,61,000 6 Investor
Clinic Infratech Private Limited 2,00,00,000 7 Mauria Udyog Limited 3,00,00,000 8 Shiva Trders 2,00,00,000
9 Shiv Traders 1,75,00,000 10 Om Traders 1,35,00,000 11 Lakshmi Steel 1,20,81,351 12 Mahaveer
Enterprises 1,00,00,000 13 Sidhivinayak Trading Company 1,00,00,000 14 Rama Trading Company 75,00,000
15 Uday Enterprises 69,50,500 16 Orient Trading Company 68,96,800 17 Kartikey Enterprises 68,72,600 18
Dayal Traders 68,42,300 19 R.K. Enterprises 67,50,500 20 MahaLuxmi Traders 67,32,500 21 Purnima Steel
Syndicate 65,71,972 22 New Payal Traders 64,50,500 23 Shyam Sales Corporation 64,38,700 24 Kishan Steel
Corporation 62,53,700 25 Shri Ganesh Trading Company 62,50,500 26 Arhaan Enterprises 62,17,570 27
Gayatri Traders 59,42,500 28 Lakshmi Steels 53,42,600 29 Guru Kripa Traders 50,00,000 30 Guru Nanak
Trading Company 50,00,000 31 R R Enterprises 50,00,000 32 Rohit Steel 50,00,000 33 Shree Ji Trading
Company 50,00,000 34 Shri Hari Trading Company 50,00,000 35 G.S. Enterprises 49,50,500 36 A.B
Enterprises 48,16,654 37 Amit Steel 40,00,000 38 Barnala Steel Industries Ltd 36,72,008 39 S.R Steel
34,92,054 40 Kumar Trading Company 32,45,859 41 Quality Synthetics Private Limited 25,00,000 42 Shri
Bankey Bihari Trading Company 25,00,000 43 Jayem Manufacturing Co Pvt Ltd 23,15,400 44 SBL
Construction Private Limited 22,10,040 45 ANALCO ( INDIA ) PVT LTD 21,86,728 46 Kumar Trading CO
19,53,325 47 BUILD TECH INDUSTRIES 19,06,800 48 M. K TRADERS 16,20,370 49 Shree Ram Plywood
14,79,510 50 ARUNACHAL TIMBER TRADERS PVT LTD 13,98,400 51 Naveen Associates 13,60,217 52
Deepak Mehta & Associates 13,50,000 53 Raj Shree Ispat 10,92,584 DREAM INTERIORS & DEVELOPERS
(P) 54 LTD 10,00,790 55 Aryan Corporate Soloutions Pvt Ltd 10,00,000 56 Astech Marketing Private Limited
6,81,321 57 Jotindra Steel & Tubes Ltd 5,00,250 58 Amrapali Infrastructure Private Limited 2,94,829 TOTAL
51,37,23,732 Few examples of diversion of funds are as under:
1. Guru Kripa Traders-2 RS. 3 crore was paid as advance to them in October 2010 which remained as it is till
January 2011, when expenses for purchase of steel were booked against the aforementioned advance. Below is
the extract of relevant portion of ledger.
U.P
Dr
08/01/2011 STEEL Purchase
1054092.00 8433336.00
U.P
Dr
09/01/2011 STEEL Purchase
1116534.00 7316802.00
U.P
Dr
10/01/2011 STEEL Purchase
1109399.00 6207403.00
U.P
Dr
10/01/2011 STEEL Purchase
1073727.00 5133676.00
U.P
Dr
10/01/2011 STEEL Purchase
1087996.00 4045680.00
U.P
Dr
11/01/2011 STEEL Purchase
1062669.00 2983011.00
U.P
Dr
11/01/2011 STEEL Purchase
889730.00 2093281.00
U.P
Dr
12/01/2011 STEEL Purchase
1023600.00 1069681.00
U.P
Dr
13/01/2011 STEEL Purchase
1097561.00 27880.00 Cr
U.P
31/03/2012 REBETE & Journal 27880.00
DISCOUNT
30027880.00
30027880.00
2. Shri Balaji Cement & Hardware
RS. 2.08 crore was paid as advance to them towards the end of March 2011 against which expense was booked
on 31st March 2011 and continued till 1st week of April 2011. It was noticed that the same person was selling
steel, bricks, cement, rodi sand, badarpur, which itself is in unorganised sector and is questionable.
21580200000079
02/04/2011 Cement Purchase
935550.00 8888801.00
U.P
Dr
02/04/2011 Sand Purchase
839969.00 8048832.00
U.P
Dr
04/04/2011 Bricks Purchase
876120.00 7172712.00
U.P
Dr
04/04/2011 Sand Purchase
831527.00 6341185.00
U.P
Dr
05/04/2011 STEEL Purchase
841333.00 5499852.00
U.P
Dr
05/04/2011 STEEL Purchase
849350.00 4650502.00
U.P
Dr
06/04/2011 Bricks Purchase
884147.00 3766355.00
U.P
Dr
06/04/2011 Cement Purchase
284130.00 3482225.00
U.P
Dr
07/04/2011 Rodi Purchase
884321.00 2597904.00
U.P
Dr
07/04/2011 Cement Purchase
931392.00 1666512.00
U.P
Dr
12/04/2011 Bricks Purchase
872193.00 794319.00
U.P
Dr
12/04/2011 STEEL Purchase
853780.00 59461.00 Cr
U.P
28961000.00
29020461.00
Closing Balance 59461.00
29020461.00
29020461.00
3. Investor Clinic Infratech Private Limited It is evident from the books of accounts that loan funds were
utilized for payment of RS. 2 crore who had invoiced the company for brokerage expense which is not
construction linked payment. Brokerage is an indirect expense, incurred for the sale of flat. The banks had
granted funds for construction activity and not for sale activity. This is clearly diversion of loan funds to
unapproved means.
4. Shiva Traders RS. 2 crore was paid as advance on 9th October 2010 against which subsequently invoices for
purchase of steel were booked in December 2010 only to adjust the balance.
20000000.00
2,00
,00,000
5. Om Traders
RS. 1.35 crore was paid in September 2010 against which subsequently invoices for purchase of steel were
booked in December 2010 only to adjust the balance.
Date Particulars Vch Type Debit Credit Balance 02/06/2010 BOM-SEC51 A/C Payment 50,00,000 50,00,000
No - 60036386553 03/06/2010 Hardware Item Purchase 8,76,488 41,23,512 U.P 24/06/2010 Hardware Item
Purchase 9,20,241 32,03,271 U.P 03/07/2010 Hardware Item Purchase 7,57,796 24,45,475 U.P 04/07/2010
Hardware Item Purchase 7,56,000 16,89,475 U.P 05/07/2010 Hardware Item Purchase 7,20,421 9,69,054 U.P
10/08/2010 Steel Purchase Purchase 9,77,734 8,680 U.P 14/09/2010 HDFC BANK(L.N) Payment 50,00,000
49,91,320 22/09/2010 BOM-SEC51 A/C Payment 60,00,000 1,09,91,320 No - 60036386553 27/09/2010 Bank
of Baroda Payment 85,00,000 1,94,91,320 A/C No -
6. Mauria Udyog Limited RS. 3 crore was diverted to the company on 29th September 2010 and 30th March
2011 for RS. 1 crore & 2 crore respectively as advance and the same was subsequently booked against
purchase of steel in January 2011 and May 2011 only to adjust the balance.
3,00,00,000
5,88,02,028
Closing Balance
2,88,02,028
5,88,02,028
5,88,02,028
1. In the case of Amrapali Princely Estate Pvt Ltd: Syndicate bank and Bank of India together approved term
loan amounting to Rs.100 crore to develop a housing project at Plot no Gh- 02/A, Sector-76, Noida over an
area of 15.15 acres consisting of 19 towers. These funds were granted on 13th April 2013 and 15th May 2013,
6th March 2014 and 28th March 2014 for Rs. 25 crore each time. Against the aforesaid term loan, the banks
secured first pari passu charge over the entire project assets of Amrapali Princely Estate Pvt Ltd (including
building under construction & construction material kept at site) & receivable excluding advance booking
money. The banks also secured second pari passu charge (with first charge on land with Greater Noida
Authorities) by way of equitable mortgage on 61300 square metres of the project land at plot no.Gh-02,Sector-
76, Noida Immediately on receipt, these funds were diverted to several third parties as stated hereunder:
9 Lakshmi Steels
2,87,00,000
10 Arhaan Enterprises
2,25,00,000
Bank of India Loan A/c No-
11 605965410000120
1,70,25,946
15 Jaypeeco India
1,11,79,965
16 Lakshmi SteelB/p
1,00,00,000
16,62,747
TOTAL
51,29,19,265
(i) Fixed deposit – The Company made a fixed deposit of Rs. 8.25 Crore and out of which Rs. 3.75cr was
outstanding as on 31st March 2015 which we could find if utilized for business purpose. Rs. 4.50 cr. was used
for repayment of Loan
(ii) Radius Synergies Pvt Ltd – It is seen that RS. 1.55 crore was given as advances since 2013 and continued
giving advances till 2015 to this party. Out of these funds an amount of Rs.1 crore is outstanding till 31st
March 2015. Out of advances for Rs.1.55 crore, expenses were booked only for Rs.52 lakh for labour charges
in 2014. The veracity of the expenses booked is to be examined
(iii) Shriv Build Mat India Pvt – It is seen that Rs.20 Lakh was given as advance in 2014 which has not
returned subsequently and no expense was also booked.
2. In the case of Amrapali Eden Park Developers Pvt Ltd: Eden Park Developers Pvt Ltd received term loan of
RS. 45 crore for development of project ‘Amrapali Eden Park’ in March 2013 from Corporation Bank to
develop a housing project. Against this, the company mortgaged plot No 27, Block F, Sector-50, Noida,
Gautam Budh Nagar, U.P.
Immediately on receipt, these funds were diverted to several third parties as stated hereunder:
It is holding 25% shareholding in Heart Beat City Project Controlled by three Companies namely Three
Platinum, Softtech Pvt. Ltd., Pebbles Prolease Pvt. Ltd. and baseline Infra Developers Pvt. Ltd. Cozy Habitat
Builders Pvt. Ltd. Received Rs. 30,00,000 from Amrapaliand Paid Rs. 15,00,000 to Mr. Shiv Priya. We are
therefore the opinion thatthat Rs. 15,00,000 should be recovered from Cozy Habitat Builders Pvt. Ltd. and be
deposited to the treasury of the Honourable Supreme court.
2. DFC Projects Private Limited The management of DFC Projects Pvt. Ltd. as informed were providing
services to Amrapali Group for arranging funds. We found that there invoices were paid within a period of 2-3
days from the date of raising the invoices which raises a doubt whether there were the invoices raised for
services rendered or were adjustments. The properties/flats were booked in the name of DFC group about
which the directors Mr.Pankaj Sharma and Mr.VinayRai showed total ignorance. Consequent to the
questioning they agreed to surrender the flats. (Refer ANNEXURE XIII.6)
3. Chaudhary ENT Udyog (Supplier of Bricks) As per the copy of the receipts issued by Amrapali Group of
Companies, it has been observed that the party had paid INR 500,000 in cash on 24th February, 2017 vide
receipt number 3074 Dated 24.02.2017 (Copy enclosed) on account of flat Number T6-G06 that was allotted to
the said party in Amrapali Grand on account of outstanding amounts due from Amrapali Group of Companies.
The Company has not recorded the receipt of the aforesaid amount of INR 500,000 in their books of account.
This shows that this money has been taken away by the Management and hence should be recovered from
them.
It was further informed by the supplier, that Amrapali Group of Companies committed a fraud since this flat is
already sold to Mr. Nikhil Kumar Datta. The party came to know of this on 31st August, 2018, when he
received a letter dated 18th August, 2018 from IDBI Bank seeking payment for overdue amount in the name of
Mr. Nikhil Kumar Datta.
This a serious kind of fraud done by the Amrapali Group of Companies. The party has even written a letter to
Police, Uttar Pradesh against the aforesaid fraud. Copy of the said letter to police along with the letter issued
by IDBI Bank to Mr. Nikhil Kumar Datta has been enclosed as Annexure 34-D.
4. Closing Inventory as per Audited Financial Statement as on 31 March, 2015 st There is no stock list,
valuation certificate or any documentary evidence regarding physical verification with the company or in the
Statutory Auditors file. We are of the view that these are only arbitrary figures shown in the Audited Financial
Statements.
5. Fixed Assets
a) Building Account During the financial year 2013-14 a sum of INR 80.34 crores has been capitalized to
Building A/c by crediting various purchase/expense account as per journal voucher passed on 31/03/14 as per
the copy of the voucher given below.
This entry seems to be a mere adjustment entry since there is no Valuation report on the basis of which these
expenses are capitalized to Building account and no working sheet of the same is available. We are of the view
that this amount has been taken away by the Management of the Company and this amount should be
recovered from them.
6. Royalgolf Link City Projects Private Limited It has been observed that a sum of INR 4 Crores
approximately is recoverable from M/s Royalgolf Link City Projects Private Limited (Royalgolf) in the books
of Amrapali Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. on account of supply of precast materials.
Mr. Shiv Priya was the Director of this Company from 26.9.2014 (Date of Incorporation of the company) to
3.4.2017. This Company was formed as SPV for Cozy/Bagadiya Group of Companies with Mr. Shiv Priya as
the Director of Royalgolf launched for project “Hemisphere” . Amrapali Group of Companies through Ultra
Home Construction Private Limited and Amrapali Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. had given loan to Royalgolf mainly
for purchase of land and its registration thereof. A dispute arose amongst the Company in six months of its
operations and on 1st April, 2015 a Loan Settlement Agreement was signed between Amrapali Group, Cozy/
Bagadiya Group vide which 30 Villas valuing approximately INR 50.47 cr. were earmarked for Amrapali
Group. Amrapali Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. (Infra) was the Supplier of Precast Building material and they were to
supply these materials for “Hemisphere” project worth INR 67 crores approximately. However, Infra could
supply only 24% of the contract value and due to difference between Amrapali Group and Royalgolf, the
contract was terminated in June, 2017.
Proceedings under IBC 2016 were initiated by Royalgolf against Infra and they filed a claim for INR 17.50
crores with the IRP appointed by NCLT. The matter is still in dispute at NCLT for the claimed loan of 17.50
crores lodged by Royalgolf on Amrapali Infra.
7. Hire Charges Received The Group companies had paid hire/erection charges from the various group
companies for example Amrapali Infrastructure received Rs.170.15 crores during the period 2008-15. (Volume
II – Page 306) It was further observed that there have been no details regarding the equipment given on hire to
each company and the basis of raising bills on account of hire charges. It seems that bills for hire charges have
been raised on arbitrary basis and there are no comparative quotations for the same available.
26. STATUS OF DATA AVAILABILITY There is overlapping in accounting data from April 2016 to
September 2016 and we found that few entries were entered in FARVISION and few in the tally for the said
period.
The following companies were carved out by Amrapali Group, which are being audited and a report on these
companies will be submitted.
2) O2 Valley Noida
27. M.S. Dhoni It is observed that the Company Amrapali Sapphire Developers Private Limited has paid a sum
of Rs. 6.52 Crores out of the total amount of Rs. 42.22 Crores paid from the Amrapali group of Companies to
Rhiti Sports Management Private Limited during the years 2009 - 2015. This sum has been paid on account of
Agreements executed by Shri Anil Kumar Sharma, CMD for and on behalf of Amrapali Group of Companies
with Rhiti Sports Management Private Limited. There is no resolution on record authorizing Mr. Anil Kumar
Sharma, CMD to enter into an agreement on behalf of all Amrapali group of Companies. There were various
agreements as per details given below:
a) Endorsement Agreement dated 22nd November, 2009 According to this agreement Mr. Mahendra Singh
Dhoni will make himself available to the Chairmen for three days along with one representative of Rhiti
Sports. There are no documents held on record for compliance of this condition.
b) According to the Agreement for sponsorship dated 20th March, 2015, Amrapali Group of Companies got
right to advertise as Logo Space at various places in the IPL 2015 for Chennai Super Kings. It is observed that
this Agreement is on plain paper and executed only between Amrapali and Rhiti Sports Management Private
Limited and there are no signatories on behalf of Chennai Super Kings to this Agreement. No Resolution in
favour of Shri Arun Pandey, Signatory of Rhiti Sports Management Private Limited is attached with the said
Agreement. This clearly shows that these Agreements have just been made for payment of amounts to Rhiti
Sports Management Private Limited Company are Sham Agreements and made just for making payments to
Rhiti Sports Management Private Limited. We feel that Home Buyers money has been diverted illegally and
wrongly to Rhiti Sports Management Private Limited and should be recovered from them as the said
Agreement in our opinion do not stand the test of Law. Amrapali Mahi Developers Pvt Ltd • Mr. Mahendra
Singh Dhoni, husband of Ms. Sakshi Singh Dhoni (director of company) was the brand ambassador of
Amrapali group and have carried out a number of transactions with respect to endorsement of Amrapali
group’s projects. He has entered in agreements with other group company. • We are informed verbally that this
company was incorporated for development of a project in Ranchi. An MOU was also entered between the
parties though we were not provided a copy of that. We understand that copy of MOU is available with Mr.
Adhikari.
In Amrapali Sapphire Developers Private Limited a Flat (Flat No – TC- P04) has been booked in the name of
Rhiti Sports Management Private Limited by passing an adjustment entry. However Mr Sanjay Pandey of Rhiti
Sports Management Pvt Ltd denied booking of any such flat. He also confirmed that neither the company nor
any individual has any flat in Amrapli Group. Mr Pandey confirmed that no due diligence was carried out
before accepting the brand endorsement though he informed that brand value and paying capacity was seen.
No Agreement was provided though it was agreed that it would be provided by 11th March, 2019. Expenses
were reimbursed to Rhiti Entertainment Private Limited a group company, without any agreement.
28. Properties alienated Chart D The group started alienated the properties starting from 2015-16 , and many
properties were transferred when the case was pending before the Honourable Court with a criminal mind to
alienate the assets. The funds were routed from one account to another and properties were registered in
benami names.
For the assets sold up to 31/3/2015, we didn’t generally find anything in contravention of the details submitted
in affidavit Chart D. We have categorized the Chart-D transactions into following 3 categories:
Category A – The properties attached should be sold off and recover the amount.
Category B – The properties attached should continue to be attached.
Category C- The properties attached should be released off.
Name of Name of the Area Category Date of Page no of Company of party to which transfer supplementary
Amrapali allotment/sale report Group was made CATEGORY-A Ultra Home SKN Hospitality 1067.50 A 15th
March 2791-2796 Construction Pvt Ltd sq. mtr. 2017 Pvt Ltd Amrapali Bhuvneshwar 6.52 A Available 2781
Homes Project land Acres Pvt Ltd Amrapali Pradeep Mishra 123171 A 21st August 2779-2780 Homes Project
sq. ft. 2017 Pvt Ltd Amrapali Sarvome 7108 A 10th July 2768-2769 Smartc Housing Pvt Ltd sq. ft. 2017 ity
Developers Pvt Ltd Amrapali High Life 8500 A Available 2770 Dream Valley Commercial sq. ft.
Pvt Ltd
CATEGORY-C
• Inventory of plots at Jaipur – of company names Sangam Colonisers Pvt Ltd • Amrapali Power & Cement
Pvt Ltd – Land from Charu Rai yet to be identified, Land from UPSIDC yet to be identified.
Amrapali Eden Park which it is March 2016. It was Developers Pvt Ltd 171 175.14 found at any given point of
Sangam Colonizer Pvt Ltd 9.58 7.61 time the amount received Amrapali Grand 217 104.98 from homebuyers
was never Amrapali Princely Estate Pvt in short Amrapali Leisure Valley Amrapali Homes Project Pvt Ultra
Home Construction Pvt Sub Total (A) 11573.13 7388.89 Sales of 2 Property/FSI/Facilities 358.68 As per
affidavit The amount paid to bank as per Chart B of affidavit is 2394 crore. We could not verify the number of
amount paid in absence of details being not available. We worked out the otstanding loan amount from audited
3 Bank 2712.02 1827 financial statements of 2015.
The
amount borrowed in
again
st private equity which
has
no liabilty of principal
and
interest and the investor
would
recover his its
inves
tments by selling the
share
s on/off market.
Inves
tment in the form of
compu
lsory convertible
deben
ture and optionally
conve
rtible would have
inter
est liabilty upto date of
conve
rsion. the debenture
were
note converted on due
dates
. Furthermore the
amoun
t invested was diverted
immed
iately upon receipt to
4 FDI/Financial Institution 520 65
unapproved purposes.
Numbe
r has been taken from
affid
avit and has not been
5 Investors 300 200
verified by us.
Numbe
r has been taken from
affid
avit and has not been
6 Partner Investment 150 150
verified by us.
Sub Total (B) 4040.7 2242
Grand Total (A+B) 15613.83 9630.89
Difference 5982.94 Short
cashflow
1 The above does not include the cash received from customers. 2 * Assumed the figure as given in the
affidavit.
31. Mrs. Manju Rajpal and Mr. Ramesh Rajpal Mrs. Manju Rajpal and Mr. Ramesh Rajpal HUF each invested
Rs 7.5 crore in May 2011 on interest in Amrapali Leisure Valley Private Limited. The rate of interest is 18%.
However he claimed in his submission that it was an investment in residential property for his staff because he
was having a plan to shift his business operations in Noida. He submitted that he acquired this property for
residence of his staff. On reviewing the return of income of Mrs. Manju Rajpal (Refer annexure S-1 of
supplementary report page no. 2823) and Mr. Ramesh Rajpal we found that amount invested in various units as
given below:
1. Mr. Ramesh Rajpal – Unit No A-388 admeasuring 20,200 sq. feet in Amrapali Leisure Valley Private
Limited for RS 7.5 Cr. However, due to company’s inability to handover the said villa, 8 units were allotted
instead. Refer Annexure S-2 of supplementary report page no. 2824 We found Unit No A-388 in Amrapali
Leisure Valley Private Limited is booked in the name of Mr. Joginder Sharma on 13th February, 2016
admeasuring area 2525 sq. feet for a value of Rs 1.29 crore. It depicts very clearly that there was no unit
admeasuring an area of 20,200 sq feet and the amount was invested for a purpose to avail Capital Gain benefits
and earn interest on investment at the rate 18% p.a. It is recommended that the units allotted as per Annexure
S-2 of supplementary report page no. 2824 should be treated as vacant and be available for sale.
2. Mrs. Manju Rajpal – Unit No A-396 admeasuring 17,675 sq. feet in Amrapali Leisure Valley Private
Limited for RS 7.5 Cr claimed as Long term Capital gain. It is claimed, due to company’s inability to handover
the said villa, 53 units were allotted instead. Refer Annexure S-3 of supplementary report page no. 2825-2826.
We found Unit No A-396 in Amrapali Leisure Valley Private Limited is booked in the name of Mr. Satya Vir
Srivastava on 14th July, 2014 admeasuring area 2525 sq. feet for a value of Rs 65.5 Lakh. It depicts very
clearly that there was no unit admeasuring an area of 17,675 sq feet and the amount was invested for a purpose
to avail Capital Gain benefits and earn interest on investment at the rate 18% p.a. It is recommended that the
units allotted as per Annexure S-3 of supplementary report page no. 2825-2826 should be treated as vacant and
be available for sale.
The amount invested in residential property is claimed as Capital gain. Subsequently in the year 2017, the
villas were shifted from Amrapali Leisure Valley Private Limited to Royalgolf Link, Amrapali Princely Estate
Private Limited, Amrapali Zodiac Developers Private Limited, Amrapali Silicon City Private Limited,
Amrapali Dream Valley Private Limited and Amrapali Smart City Developers Private Limited and the villas
numbers are attached. (Refer Annexure 2.2 and Annexure 2.3) For the amount invested of Rs 15 crore, Rs
12.25 crore has been paid to him in the form of interest at the rate of 18%.
Exotique Exports, an entity of Mr Rajpal, invested Rs 5 crore in 2010 at the interest rate of 18%. It had been
paid Rs 4.55 till February 2016 in the form of interest. It is submitted that 5 units namely Unit no. 118, 119,
120, 121, 122 were purchased in Amrapali Commercial Complex Cum Corporate Hub at Plot No. Sector – 2
Manesar, Gurgaon, Haryana for Rs 5Cr however the value of 5 units as per Builder Buyer Agreement is Rs
3.19 Cr.
32. M/s Surbhaee Advertising Private Limited (Immovable Property-A3A, Maharani Bagh, New Delhi)
(i) Mr. Paramjit Gandhi, Mr. Gagandeep Gandhi & Ms. Jasmine Gandhi are the directors of the company M/s
Surbhaee Advertising Private Limited.
The shares of M/s Surbhaee Advertising Private Limited were purchased by Mr. Paramjeet Gandhi & M/s
Special Tools Private Limited (a company owned by him & his family) for Rs 1.59 crore for which no
agreement was provided by them.
(ii) It was informed that principal business of the company is Advertising of Projects. However no income has
been earned from its principal business activity or any other source.
(iii) The company is holding an immovable property at A3A Maharani Bagh, New Delhi admeasuring
approximately 800 sq yards. It is also stated that the family of Mr. Anil Kumar Sharma is residing in the same
house against which no rent deed is agreed between Mr. Anil Kumar Sharma & Mr. Paramjit Gandhi
(Surbhaee Advertising Private Limited)
(iv) When asked to Mr. Paramjit Gandhi who resides in Ghaziabad that why he purchased the property in New
Delhi 4-5 years back, he replied that he wanted to shift to this property.
However the fact is that he has never shifted to Delhi & all the renovation & maintenance work was
overlooked by Mr. Anil Kumar Sharma.
(v) The company has also taken loan of Rs. 25 crores from Aditya Birla Finance Limited in the FY 2016-17
against the hypothecation of the property which was purchased for Rs 1.59 crore. This indicates the property
value was much higher on the date of transfer.
(vi) The company has advanced Rs. 25.88 crores as short term loans & advances to the following parties-
(vii) The company has also received Rs. 2.35 crores & Rs. 3.55 crores from Mr. Ritik Kumar Sinha & Miss
Swapnil Shikha respectively, also directors in M/s Surbhaee Advertising Private Limited in the FY 2016- 17
out of funds received from Amrapali group of companies enrouted via the account of Mr. Anil Kumar Sharma.
(viii) It implies that the property which was bought for Rs 1.59 crore, the amount has been funded out of
Amrapali Group funds routed by Mr. Anil Kumar Sharma who is family member and from them to Surbhaee
Advertising Private Limited. Two of his family members were made director to have a control on the property
of a value of Rs 50 Cr. It further proves that the difference between the value of property and the price at
which it was transferred to Mr. Paramjit Gandhi was paid in cash out of cash amount received in Amrapali
Group by booking of bogus expenditure and selling the flats undervalued. Opinion Based on the facts stated
above, in our opinion the property at A3A Maharani Bagh, New Delhi is a “Property” belongs to Mr. Anil
Kumar Sharma/Amrapali group held in the name of the company M/s Surbhaee Advertising Private Limited.
33. Facility Sold It is found that the facilities sold under various projects as shown in Chart M of Affidavit
submitted on 3Rd December, 2018 are mere adjustment entries (Refer Annexure S-10 of supplementary report
page no. 2958-2959).
We found that the buyer is not aware of that he has purchased any land for the mentioned facility. We further
found that there is no account in the name of the said buyers in many cases to whom the facilities were sold. It
is recommended that the facilities sold so far should be attached.
34. Mr.Prem Mishra We are of the opinion and also given to understand from various sources that the group
diverted funds in the range of 500-600 crore in Madhya Pradesh projects in particular Indore. Mr.Prem Mishra
has appeared in response to the court notice and he was non-cooperative. We have also received a
communication supporting our views, reproduced below-
“Good Evening Sir, Hope you are doing well, this is regards Amrapali Scam of CMD Anil Sharma, as per my
information CMD has transferred 1 thousand crore to the different Amrapali Townships project of M.P.
through Mr. Prem Mishra. The details of the same on paper is available with me. If you can arrange some time
and allow me to have a detail discussion of the same, that would be great.Kindly inform me two days prior to
the meeting date, as I am from XXXXXX. need to do some arrangements for the same, its a request.
Waiting for your response.” We could not complete the examination of Mr.Prem Mishra in Indore project due
to paucity of time and request it to be included in the second audit.
35. Heartbeat City Developers Private Limited The project is in the name of 3 companies namely Pebbles
Prolease Private Limited, Three Platinum Softech Private Limited and Baseline Infradevelopers Private
Limited. The project is an Amrapali group’s project which was carved out from Amrapali Group of companies
while case was pending before Honorable Supreme Court. Funds were invested in the project from Amrapali
Group through Mr. Amit Wadhwa, Mr. Amit Wadhwa was a partner of 25% each in Pebbles Prolease Private
Limited and Three Platinum Softech Private Limited. Amrapali Group launched and advertised the project as
Amrapali Group project and the project was named as Amrapali Heartbeat City Developers Private Limited in
the agreements. Corporate office was having the same address as Amrapali Corporate Tower in Sector 62,
Noida. The purpose of carving out the project from Amrapali is not known. It is informed that Mr. Vaibhav
Jain and Mr. Sankalp Shukla are the key managerial persons. In the absence of accounting records we could
not proceed further on the issue.
S. No. Particulars
Amount in Crores
1 Sale of Flats at lower Prices
321.31
2 Amount receivable from home buyers
3,624.65
3 Amount receivable from buyers of Commercial Area
89.83
4 Unsold Inventory
i) Flats
1,991.69
ii) Commercial Areas
345.78
5 Amount recoverable from KMP’s and their
Relatives:
i) Professional fee
100.53
ii) Advances Recoverable
152.24
iii) Cash in hand
69.36
iv) Other recoverable
582.68
6 Diversion of home buyer’s funds
3,152.30
7 Non genuine purchases from suppliers
842.42
8 Recovery from Others
32.69
9 Unexplained cash deposits/jewellery
14.94
Total
11,320.42
Total amount involved in under-valued transactions in respect of Companies audited by us is Rs.321.31 Crores
as per summary given below:
Number
of Units
Crores)
1 Amrapali Sapphire 315
76.02 Volume – I Page No.
Audit Report)
Limited
Audit Report)
Audit Report)
Limited
Audit Report)
(Supplementary
Audit Report)
Total 5,856
321.31
A sum of Rs.3624.65 crores is recoverable from home buyers. Detailed summary is as under:
S.no. Name of the company Amount Refer Page No. (In Crores) 1 Amrapali Sapphire Developers Private 7.14
Volume – I Page 2 Amrapali Leisure Valley Developers Volume – I Page 3 Amrapali Smart City Developers
Private 19.58 Volume – I Page 4 Amrapali Silicon City Private Limited 2.48 Volume – I Page 5 Amrapali
Dream Valley Private Limited 6.12 Volume – I Page Volume – II Section 6 Ultra Home Construction Private
38.03 XXII (Page No. 563 – Limited 568) Volume – II Section 7 7Amrapali Princely Estate Private 5.50 XXII
(Page No. 563 – Limited 568) Volume – II Section 8 Amrapali Zodiac Developers Private 2.08 XXII (Page
No. 563 – Limited 568) Volume – II Section 9 Amrapali Leisure Valley Private 3.58 XXII (Page No. 563 –
Limited 568) Volume – II Section 10 Amrapali Eden Park Private Limited 3.64 XXII (Page No. 563 –
4. Unsold Inventory There is unsold inventory of flats and Commercial areas amounting to Rs.2337.47Crores
approximately as per details given below:
a)
Unsold Inventory of Flats
S.no Name of the company Number
Approxima Page No.
. of Units
te
in
Realizable Reference
Residential
Value
(In Crores)
Page No.39-
Limited
Point No. 4a
2 Amrapali Leisure Valley Developers 329
100.67 Volume – I
Page No.39-
Private Limited
Point No. 4a
3 Amrapali Smart City Developers Private 183
65.29 Volume – I
Page No.39-
Limited
Point No. 4a
4 Amrapali Silicon City Private Limited 191
154.25 Volume – I
Page No.39-
Point No. 4a
5 Amrapali Dream Valley Private Limited 1833
660.91 Volume – I
Page No.39-
Point No. 4a
Section XXII
(Page No.
563 – 568)
7 Amrapali Centurian Park Pvt. Ltd.* 981+2
329.34 Volume – II
Section XXII
(Page No.
563 – 568)
8 Amrapali Eden Park Developers 4
2.47 Volume – II
Section XXII
Pvt. Ltd.*
(Page No.
563 – 568)
9 Amrapali Princely Estate Pvt. Ltd.* 3
4.54 Volume – II
Section XXII
(Page No.
563 – 568)
10 Amrapali Zodiac Developers Pvt. Ltd.* 27
41.48 Volume – II
Section XXII
(Page No.
563 – 568)
11 Ultra Home Construction Pvt. Ltd.* 459
205.38 Volume – II
Section XXII
(Page No.
563 – 568)
Total 5,229
1991.69
*Estimated Realizable value Noida @ Rs 4,500 approximately psf and Greater Noida @ Rs3,000
approximately psf (Amount in Crores).
No.39-
Point No.
4b
2 Amrapali Leisure Valley Nursery
Volume –
Developers Private Limited Schools,
I Page
NursingHomes
7.00 No.39-
Point No.
and MilkBooth
4b
3 Amrapali Smart City 1 Shop
0.49 Volume –
I Page
No.39-
Point No.
Developers Private 1 Nursery School
4.00 4b
Limited
Point No.
4b
5 Amrapali Dream Valley Private 18 Shops,
Volume –
Limited Nursery
I Page
Schools,
No.39-
Nursing Homes
Point No.
and Senior
4b
Secondary
44.47
Schools
6 Amrapali Eden Park
1.40 Volume
Developers Pvt. Ltd. 1
– II
Section
XXII
(Page
No.
563 –
568)
7 AmrapaliCenturian Park Pvt. Ltd. 17
5.71 Volume
– II
Section
XXII
(Page
No.
563 –
568)
8 Ultra Home Construction 318 + 487
271.00 Volume
Pvt. Ltd.
– II
Section
XXII
(Page
No.
563 –
568)
Total
345.78
a) Professional fees paid to directors Rs.100.53 crore Name of Director Professional Fees (As per Affidavit)
(Under Disclosure in Rs. in Cr. Affidavit)Rs. in Cr.
b) Advances recoverable
A sum of Rs.152.24 crores is recoverable from the Directors on account of their taxes paid, advance given for
purchase of Shares and Other Advances given including their family members. The companies gave advances
which were neither adjusted nor squared off against any future purchases or services under taken by the
companies from the said parties nor were received back by the companies Stunning Construction Private
Limited had made payments of Direct Taxes which were neither received back by the Company nor adjusted
against any services. In other words the said advances are still standing to the debit (recoverable from these
parties) in the books of the Company. This includes a sum of INR 17.43 Crores paid on behalf of directors,
senior employees and their family members. Please refer executive summary on Page 39 of Volume 1 of Final
Report. Summarized as below:
family
1 Amrapali Sapphire 0.50 0.02
0.39 0.09 -
Developers Private
Limited (Page No.
202-219)
2 Stunning 17.43 6.4
5.57 1.7 3.76
Construction Private
Limited (Page No.
196-201)
3 Amrapali Smart City 0.02 -
- - 0.02
Developers Private
Limited (Page No.-
229-244)
4 Amrapali Silicon 0.28 0.05
0.23 - -
City Private Limited
(Page No. 255-266)
5 AHS Joint Venture 9.58 6.18
3.12 0.28 -
(Page No.- 273-
278)
6 Amrapali 113.54 73.25
35.15 5.14 -
Infrastructure
Private Limited
(Page No. 286-306)
7 Sangam Colonizers 0.03 -
- - 0.03
Private Limited
(Page No.189-192)
8 Amrapali Hospitality 6.62 6.55
- - 0.07
Services Private
Limited (Page No.
346-350)
9 Hi Tech City 4.24 4.24
- - -
Developers Private
Limited (Page No.
279-285)
Total 152.24 96.69
44.46 7.21 3.88
Total
3.88
Cash inHand
Cash in hand of various Companies is not physically available nor deposited in the banks and siphoned by the
Directors amounting to Rs.69.36 crores should be recovered from the Directors as per details given below:
S. no. Name of the Company Amount (In Crores) 1 Stunning Construction Private Limited 0.17 2 Amrapali
Sapphire Developers Private Limited 0.11 3 Amrapali Leisure Valley Developers Private 0.23 Limited 4
Amrapali Smart City Developers Private Limited 10.79 5 Amrapali Silicon City Private Limited 3.58 6
Amrapali Dream Valley Private Limited 8.02 7 Hi-tech City Developers Private Limited 0.46 8 Amrapali
Infrastructure Private Limited 3.16 9 Sangam Colonizers Private Limited 0.15 10 Navodaya Properties Private
Limited 0.24 11 Hawthorne Intellect Management Solutions 0.01 Private Limited 12 MSB Software
Technology Private Limited 0.70 14 GaurisutaInfrasolution Private Limited 0.01 17 Amrapali Hospitality
Services Private Limited 0.01 18 KapilaBuildhome Private Limited 0.03 19 MannatBuildcraft Private Limited
0.20 20 Ultra Home Construction Private Limited 0.22 21 AmrapaliCenturian Park Private Limited 7.45 22
Amrapali Eden Park Developers Private 2.00 Limited 23 Amrapali Grand 0.50 24 Amrapali Homes 0.19 25
Amrapali Homes Projects Private Limited 0.23 26 Amrapali Leisure Valley Private Limited 9.79 27 Amrapali
Media Vision Private Limited 9.67 28 Amrapali Princely Estate Private Limited 5.02 29 Amrapali Smart City
Private Limited 0.50 30 Amrapali Zodiac Developers Private Limited 3.84 31 Gaurisuta Infrastructure Private
Limited 0.02 32 MVG Techno Consultants Private Limited 0.13 33 Noida Texfab Private Limited 0.13 34 La
Residentia Developers Private Limited 0.30 35 Amrapali Biotech India Private Limited 1.50 Total 69.36
a) Advance Recoverable from Non-Related Parties Amounts given as advances to third parties without any
business transactions which have not been adjusted along with the amount received/paid for the Non–Genuine
transactions amounts to Rs.256.22 crores + Rs.326.46 crores and should be recovered from the management of
the Amrapali group of Companies.
The Company has given advances to various parties. The said advances that were given by the Company were
neither adjusted nor squared off against any future purchases or services. No details regarding Pan, Address
and Nature of Advance has been given to us. The actual amount may be much higher.
S. no. Name of the Company Amount (In Refer Page No. Crores) 1 Amrapali Sapphire Developers 73.06
Volume – I Page Private Limited No.40- Point No.4c 2 Amrapali Leisure Valley Developers 19.67 Volume – I
Page No.40- Point No.4c Private Limited 3 Amrapali Smart City Developers 17.20 Volume – I Page Private
Limited No.40- Point No.4c 4 Amrapali Silicon City Private Limited 50.41 Volume – I Page No.40- Point
No.4c 5 AHS Joint Venture 15.81 Volume – I Page No.40- Point No.4c 6 Hi-tech City Developers Private 8.91
Volume – I Page Limited No.40- Point No.4c 7 Amrapali Infrastructure Private 40.24 Volume – I Page No.40-
Point No.4c Limited 8 Sangam Colonizers Private Limited 0.36 Volume – I Page No.40- Point No.4c 9
Amrapali Power and Cement Private 0.91 Volume – I Page Limited No.40- Point No.4c 10 Hawthorne
Intellect 0.17 Volume – I Page Management Solutions No.40- Point No.4c Private Limited 11 Amrapali
Aerocity Private Limited 0.01 Volume – I Page No.40- Point No.4c 12 Amrapali Buddha Developers Private
0.47 Volume – I Page Limited No.40- Point No.4c 13 Gaurisuta Infrasolution Private 1.24 Volume – I Page
Limited No.40- Point No.4c 14 Amrapali Hospitality Services Private 13.55 Volume – I Page Limited No.40-
Point No.4c 15 Kapila Buildhome Private Limited 0.41 Volume – I Page No.40- Point No.4c 16 Mums Mega
Food Park Private 1.29 Volume – I Page Limited No.40- Point No.4c 17 Mannat Buildcraft Private Limited
0.99 Volume – I Page No.40- Point No.4c 18 Amrapali Patel Platinum 7.85 Volume – I Page No.40- Point
No.4c 19 Stunning Constructions Private 0.44 Volume – I Page Limited No.40- Point No.4c 20 Amrapali
Dream Valley Private 3.23 Volume – I Page Limited No.40- Point No.4c 21 Amrapali Grand 29.17 Annexure
X.2 Final Report Volume – IV 22 Amrapali Homes 21.41 Annexure X.2 Final Report Volume – IV 23 La
residential Developers Pvt. Ltd. 23.35 Annexure X.2 Final Report Volume – IV 24 Amrapali Eden Park
Developers 3.02 Annexure X.2 Final Pvt. Ltd. Report Volume – IV 25 Gaurisuta Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. 0.46
Annexure X.2 Final Report Volume – IV 26 Jhamb Finance & Leasing Pvt. 5.93 Annexure X.2 Final Ltd.
Report Volume – IV 27 Ultra Home Construction Pvt. Ltd. 87.68 Annexure X.2 Final Report Volume – IV 28
Amrapali Homes Project Pvt. Ltd. 55.01 Annexure X.2 Final Report Volume – IV 29 Amrapali Zodiac
Developers Pvt. 28.07 Annexure X.2 Final Ltd. Report Volume – IV 30 Amrapali Smart City Pvt. Ltd. 0.95
Annexure X.2 Final Report Volume – IV 31 Amrapali Leisure Valley Pvt. Ltd. 51.62 Annexure X.2 Final
Report Volume – IV 32 Amrapali Media Vision Pvt. Ltd. 4.96 Annexure X.2 Final Report Volume – IV 33
Amrapali Health care Pvt. Ltd. 0.22 Annexure X.2 Final Report Volume – IV 34 Stunning Construction Pvt.
Ltd. 14.61 Annexure X.2 Final Report Volume – IV Total 582.68 Advance Construction co Pvt ltd is/was a
partner holding 9% in Amrapali Patel Platinum and 66% in AHS Joint Venture Project with Ultra Home
Construction Pvt Ltd. They overdrew 7.10 crore and 14.81 crore from the respective joint venture totaling to
21.91 crore While scrutinizing the documents sent by Advance Construction Company Private Limited, detail
of capital contribution of the Advance Construction Company Private Limited as on 1st April, 2008 and
thereafter is as under (as per tally data and confirmed by Advance Construction Company Private Limited):
Particulars As on 31st As on 31st As on 31st As on 31st March, 2007 March, 2008 March, 2009 March, 2010
Capital Account 3,00,00,000 50,00,000 (6,10,00,000) (7,10,00,000) Note: The negative figures represent debit/
recoverable balance. The aforesaid amount of Rs.7.10 crores should be recovered from the said party along
with interest of Rs.7.24 Crores (computed at 12% p.a. simple interest) in view of the undermentioned
observations:
• The clause 12 of MOU dated 11th November, 2006 clearly states that the profit would be divided amongst
the partners in the profit-sharing ratio.
• The Audited Financial Statements of the firm for the financial year 2013-14 reflect the firms Reserve and
Surplus as Rs.35,433 only. • No other clause in the MOU states regarding payment of Interest on Capital.
• It is not understood that how the said Company has withdrawn Rs.10.10 Crores on an investment of Rs.3
Crores invested for only a period of 1.5 years from this partnership firm. No satisfactory explanation has been
given to us by the Management. Even the ledger account sent by the said Company confirms that they owe
Rs.7.10 Crores to this firm as on 31st March, 2018 after which an entry has been passed in the books of
accounts.
As per supplementary partnership cum deed of retirement dated 31st Day of March, 2014, 2 partners namely
M/s Patel Engineering Limited and M/s Advance Construction Company Private Limited have retired from the
partnership and M/s Amrapali Infrastructure Private Limited has joined as a partner with M/s Ultra Home
Construction Private Limited. However, the amount of Rs.7.10 Crores was not adjusted and was shown as
payable to Amrapali Patel Platinum by Advance Construction Company Private Limited since 2014 till 2018.
Further, The Audited Financial Statements of Amrapali Infrastructure Private Limited for the financial year
2013-14 and thereafter don’t reflect any investment in Amrapali Patel Platinum.
All the aforesaid facts clearly depict that the aforesaid supplementary partnership cum deed of retirement,
ledger of Amrapali Patel Platinum in the books of Advance Construction Company Private Limited are
contradictory and fabricated.
While scrutinizing the Audited financial statements/Tally data detail of capital contribution of the Advance
Construction as on 1st April, 2008 and thereafter is as under:
(Amount in Crores)
Particulars As on As on As on As on As on
As on As on As on
31st 31st 31st 31st 31st
31st 31st 31st
March, March March March March
March March March
2008 , 2009 , 2010 , 2011 , 2012
, 2013 , 2014 , 2015
Capital 4.22 4.25 4.26 4.32 4.35
4.35 4.30 4.30
Account
Current (12.56) (14.82) (14.82) (14.82) (14.82)
(14.82) (14.82) (14.82)
Account
Note: The negative figures represent debit/ recoverable balance. The aforesaid amount of Rs.10.52 crores
should be recovered from the said party along with interest of Rs.17.78 croresupto 31st March 2018 (computed
at 12% p.a. simple interest) in view of the undermentioned observations:
a. It is not understood that how the said Company has withdrawn Rs.14.82 crores on an investment of Rs.4.30
crores. No satisfactory explanation has been given to us by the Management. b. As informed to us by Advance
Construction vide their mail dated 6th March, 2019, the Company had effectively retired from the said
partnership and all the project related responsibilities were handed over to Mr. Sharma, (of Ultra Home) and
the same was evidenced by an MOU dated 17th January, 2006.
This explanation given by Advance Construction is not satisfactory since the Company is continuing as a
partner and the subsequent Audited Financial Statements have also been signed by Advance Construction as a
Partner sharing profit/ loss. This shows that MOU as referred by Advance Construction is bogus/ legally not
enforceable. c. Further, Partnership firm has been legally dissolved as per dissolution deed dated 2nd Day of
April, 2018. This shows that Advance Construction is continuing as a partner in this firm till this date. It has
also been mentioned in the dissolution deed that the accounts of the firm have been made upto 31st March,
2014 to the mutual satisfaction of all the parties here to. Even this dissolution deed is dated 2nd April, 2018
doesn’t seem to be genuine in view of the following observations: i. It refers to the Audited Financial
Statements for the financial year 2013-14, whereas the Audited Financial Statements are available upto
financial year 2014-15.
ii. The deed of dissolution has not been notarized. iii. The Witnesses to this Dissolution Deed are incomplete in
so far, name and address of witness number 1 is not there and signature of witness number 2 is not there.
iv. There is no copy of the resolution available authorizing Mr. Shiv Priya to sign the deed of dissolution.
The Company has made cash payments to various parties exceeding INR 20,000 in contravention to The
Income Tax Act 1961, to the tune of INR 45,768,482 in just one company namely Amrapali Sapphire
Developers Pvt Ltd. This is just tip of the iceberg and actual amount may be much much higher. Most of these
payments are not supported by evidence. It was further observed that neither the Statutory auditor has
mentioned these cash payments exceedingRs.20,000 in his report and nor any addition has been made by the
Income Tax department in framing the Assessments for the Assessment year 2014-15 vide order dated
31.03.2016.
Financial
Year Name of Party Expense Debited
Amount
2012-13 Staff Incentive
2,252,720
2014-15 Unity Contractor Labour
1,600,000
charges of
Contractor
ShailenderaDhwaj (T Z-
2014-15 803) -
1,399,500
2013-14 MV Ayer (TL-506) -
1,000,000
Other Petty Amounts
between 20,000 to 10
Lakhs
39,516,262
Total
45,768,482
Further as per financial statements and the books of accounts scrutinized by us up to 31st March 2015, a sum
of Rs.1,588.59 Crores has been diverted to other projects, other group companies, directors and their relatives
and senior employees. As per summary given below: S.no. Name of the company Amount Refer Page No. (In
Crores) 1 Amrapali Sapphire Developers Private Limited 113.98 Volume – I Page 2 Amrapali Leisure Valley
Developers Private 134.25 Volume – I Page Limited 3 Amrapali Smart City Developers Private 532.76
Volume – I Page Limited 4 Amrapali Silicon City Private Limited 347.36 Volume – I Page &8 5 Amrapali
Dream Valley Private Limited 457.82 Volume – I Page 6 Hi Tech Developers Private Limited 2.42 Volume –
II Page Total 1,588.59
7. Non genuine purchases from suppliers The total amount of non-genuine/ bogus purchases amounting to
Rs.842.42croresapproximately. Details are as follows: Non genuine purchases from Suppliers (Refer Page No.
2800 Supplementary Report& Annexure No. S-4) Rs. 837.12 crore Add: Land development charges booked
without supporting documents Rs. 7.30 crore Total Rs. 842.42 crore
8. Recovery from Others A sum of Rs.32.69 croresis recoverable from others as per details given below:
10. Balance due to Noida Authority and Greater Noida Authority as per affidavits submitted by them before
Hon’ble Supreme Court of India The Group paid only 1st installment to Noida and Greater Noida authorities
and did not pay in almost all the cases the installment due, lease rent and interest under one pretext or another.
The Group has not made any provision for additional interest due to delay in payments of installments. We had
issued a letter dated 30th January, 2019 to Noida Authority to send us the complete information/ documents
regarding the amounts due from Amrapali Group of Companies. But we have not received any such details
from the Noida Authority. In these circumstances balance due to Noida Authority Couldn’t be verified by us.
It was further informed to us by the management of Amrapali that Noida and Greater Noida authorities have
submitted three claims before the Honourable Supreme court. We were produced one of the annexure of the
affidavit and the same is reproduced below. We found that Noida/Greater Noida authority administration was
non active for reasons best known to them. Amrapali group never paid the 2nd installment but Noida and
Greater Noida authorities continued to allot large size land to them without fail. They never bothered to issue
even a notice to be pasted at site for the information of home buyers that the land dues had not been paid so
that home buyers could be cautious and on alert. In spite of non receipt of any installment, lease rent, interest
they were very trumped in giving no objection certificate for the borrowings to Amrapali group from different
sources like JP Morgan, ICICI and Aditya Birla Pvt equity funds and/or various banks.
a) Noida Authority
S. no. Name of the Company
Amount
(In
Cro
res)
1 Amrapali Sapphire Developers Private
348.8
Limited
2 Eden park Developers Private Limited
31.7
3 Amrapali Silicon City Private Limited
537.9
4 Amrapali Princely Estate Private Limited
149.6
5 Amrapali Patel Platinum
115.5
6 Amrapali Zodiac Developers Private Limited
276.1
Total
1,459.6
(In
Crores)
1 Amrapali Smart City Developers Pvt Ltd
628.06
2 Amrapali Leisure Valley Developers Pvt
Ltd 255.37
3 Amrapali Leisure Valley Pvt Ltd
914.33
4 AmrapaliCenturian Park Pvt Ltd
569.36
5 Amrapali Dream Valley Pvt Ltd
718.28
Total
3,085.4
Grand Total
4,545
(a+b)
Bank of Maharashtra
5/2/2019 22.24
Amrapali Silicon City Private Limited Bank of Maharashtra
5/2/2019 95.34
Total
659.58
Note: Information in respect of bank loans has been given to the extent of availability of documents.” 61(a).
The aforesaid is the summary of report of the Forensic Audit which states that the Group collaborated with
external parties like J.P. Morgan in contravention of FEMA and distributed returns along with the principal
amount, even though it did not book gains within the business of the company.
(b). The report also reveals various disturbing features that no accounts were prepared from 2015 to 2018 and
money was withdrawn out of it and diverted from one company to another. The entire transactions were not
being entered into Tally. The opening balances were not entered properly. In April 2015, the Amrapali Group
introduced Far Vision an ERP, which was also not implemented properly.
(c). There was no information about purchases from the supplier. During a search in 2013, it was held by
Income Tax Authorities that purchases are being made from bogus suppliers without receiving the goods
physically. Bogus expenses and cash has been surrendered by Amrapali Group in the income tax search.
(d). The amount shown as developmental charges is not supported by evidence or vouchers. The total bogus
expense has been ascertained to Rs.842.42 crores. An amount of Rs.0.25 crore was paid to Mr. Alok Ranjan
towards brokerage.
(e). The company has also made unusual cash payments in the financial year 2016-2017 by transferring cash to
the Site, but the same is not supported/authenticated by the Site Cash In-charge. Certain payments have not
been found to be genuine.
(f). The Group Companies purchased gold bar worth Rs.5.88 crore, which is a personal expense and it should
be recovered from the management of the company.
(g). The amount disbursed by Banks was not utilised for constructions of projects and the funds of homebuyers
as well as the amount disbursed from the Banks were diverted to unapproved uses, namely, creation of
personal assets of Directors; creation of assets in closely held companies by Directors along with their partners
and relatives; funds were used for personal expenses of Directors; funds were advanced to unrelated entities
for several years without levying interest on unrealized amount, the recoverable amount from third parties has
amounted to Rs.326 crores; creation of discreet projects for personal income; and construction of assets for
other projects.
(h). There were negligence and non-monitoring by Bankers. There was a transfer of funds from one company
to another company to a third company and so on and so forth on the same dates would not have been possible
without the active support of the Bankers. They turned blind eye to all the transfers and did not inquire, which
were being routed every day. If they had been alive to the situation, the Management would not have dared to
launder the money from one company to another according to their whims and fancies and the Bankers are
solely responsible for the negligence on their part. The Bankers did not do any monitoring. The Bank of
Maharashtra and Andhra Bank also failed to do the monitoring. Even the basic checks were foregone. The
Banks acted as a mute spectator to unapproved diversion which was happening evidently in all
banking transactions. Even, Noida and Greater Noida Authorities were grossly negligent in reviewing and
monitoring the progress of projects and did not take any action for non-payment of land dues and continued to
allot land to Amrapali Group for the reasons best known to them.
(i). The Directors along with trust partners discreetly divided the projects into two parts:
(i) Projects in which home buyers funds were received and funds were diverted from these projects;
(ii) Projects to which home funds were diverted. These projects were subsequently separated/demerged from
Amrapali Group, e.g., Heartbeat City, La Residentia, Vinayaka Square.
(j). Several dummy companies were formed in the names of office boys and peons. Technically, the allotments
at the initial stage were void ab- initio. The amount received by the Companies from home-buyers was more
than the amount spent on construction and for payment of the land. The sole objective of taking a loan was to
divert the funds to other ventures to create assets in the name of family members and to make movies. Villas
were bought at tourist destination for fun at the expenses of the middle class and low-income group people.
(k). Several companies were created solely for the purpose of routing funds. These companies did not have any
material transaction as per the main object for which they were incorporated and did not have a business since
their incorporation.
62. As is apparent from the report, several companies were created only to route the funds and transactions
consisting of office boys, persons with no income and dummy companies in which family members and
relatives were inducted as members only for few transactions, which are as under: (1) Jhamb Finance &
Leasing Private Limited.
It was under the control of Mr. Chander Wadhwa, CFO. It has advanced loans amounting to Rs.875 crores to
related and unrelated entities, which are recoverable.
(2) Gaurisuta Infrastructure Private Limited It was also created for diverted funds.
(3) Neelkanth Buildcraft Private Limited Similarly it was formed for the purpose of buying shares from J.P.
Morgan at exorbitant rates, consisiting of office boys and relatives of Mr. Anil Mittal, Statutory Auditor.
(4) Stunning Construction Private Limited As per findings of the Forensic Auditors, they should either
surrender 19.75 percent of land or 632 flats.
(5) Kapila Buildhome Private Limited It financed a sum of Rs.392.68 crores. It accepted non-interest bearing
inter-corporate deposits from non-group companies, which was used for money laundering.
(6) Rudraksha Infracity Private Limited It was consisting of office boys and relative of Anil Mittal, Statutory
Auditor, which was created to receive money from Mannat Buildcraft Private Limited and to transfer it to J.P.
Morgan Investments by purchasing it at exorbitant rates and for no other transaction.
(7) Mannat Buidcraft Private Limited It was created for money laundering of Rs.120 crores, only for few
transactions.
(8) Amrapali Magadh Developers Private Limited It did not carry out any principal business activity. The
purpose of its creation is not clear. The shareholders paid the share application money in cash.
(9) Amrapali Mahi Developers Private Limited It received share capital in cash and all the expenses were paid
in cash.
(10) Amrapali Spring Valley Private Limited It was created for the purpose of routing and diversion of funds
amounting to Rs.186 crores has been found.
(11) Amrapali Media Vision Private Limited It was created making movies. There was no necessity of creation
of this company for advertising. It was created to divert funds to make movies. Rhiti Management Private
Limited was paid Rs.24 crores for professional charges and advertisement expenses etc. (12) Hawthrone
Intellect Management Solutions Private Limited It had paid up capital of Rs.1 lakh and incurred losses of
Rs.2.33 crores. The expenses are inflated to wipe off the various loans and advances received from sister
concerns. The entries have found to be dubious and the amount of loss of Rs.2.33 crores to be recovered from
the Directors as it was wiping off the amount of the homebuyers. (13) Amrapali Smart City Private Limited It
is stated in the report that plot allotted to Amrapali Smart City Private Limited was cancelled, therefore, money
receivable from Greater Noida is Rs.18.35 crores.
(14) Amrapali Biotech India Private Limited It was created for routing funds. The ICD's are either from the
group companies or received from outside the group companies through adjustment entries.
(15) Amrapali Healthcare Private Limited It formed the property by funds of Ultra Home Construction Private
Limited created from home buyers’ funds. It deserves to be sold. (16) Amrapali Centurian Park Private
Limited The Forensic Auditors have found bogus booking of expenditure and certain adjustments against
bogus billings of River Sand for an amount of Rs.3.60 crores.
(17) Amrapali Leisure Valley Private Limited Mr. Akhil Kumar Surekha became the Director and thereafter
most diversions of funds took place through the current account. The funds of the company were transferred to
and fro with companies in which Surekha family had control. FSI was sold without taking approval from Great
Noida Authority. The money received from Bihari High Rise Private Limited was diverted to Jotindra Steel &
Tubes Limited and Ozone GSP Infratech by routing it through Ultra Home Construction Private Limited.
Bihariji High Rise Private Limited, Jotindra Steel & Tubes Limited and Mauria Udyog Limited are owned by
Surekha family. There was bogus booking of expenditure since March 2018 also of Rs.2.86 crores and other
bogus entries of huge amounts.
(18) Amrapali Homes It has been found that Mauria Udyog Limited has to pay Rs.20 crores and the same be
recovered.
(19) La Residentia Developers Private Limited The consortium of five members was created, which was
controlled by Amrapali Group. The shareholders and directors were just acting faces for outsiders. There was
diversion of funds since beginning of the project itself. The company purchased raw material from Amrapali
Infrastructure Private Limited amounting to Rs.67.45 lakhs, but not even a single penny was paid since then.
The loan amount of Rs. 49 crores were taken. On the other hand, there was withdrawal by Directors and
advances given to the related parties and entities. Amrapali Group transferred some of their buyers to La
Residentia Developers Private Limited and the payment for the same was received by Amrapali Group. They
were reflected as customers in the customer data of Amrapali Group. The company is using the brand
name/trademark of Amrapali Group on its letterheads. (20) Amrapali Homes Projects Limited Mr. Prem
Mishra was given Rs.12.40 crores for purchase of land since 1st April 2008, out of which Rs.10 crores are still
receivable from him. Rs.55.87 crores are recoverable amounts and out of which Rs.20.75 crores pertain to
advances against land which has not been charged to cost of construction.
(21) Ultra Home Construction Private Limited The flats were allotted on false promises, forged documents and
certain allotted flats did not exist in the approved building plan. Shareholders used the money of home buyers
for allotment of shares in the company. The records of certain lands purchased by the company disappeared,
the details of which have been given. The company has advances recoverable amounting to Rs.111 crores. (22)
Amrapali Grand Bihariji Ispat Udyog Limited always had negative capital. Loans and advances amounting to
Rs.25.73 crores have been diverted. The other diversions have also been noticed in the report. (23) Amrapali
Eden Park Developers Private Limited There is no substance in the nature of transactions of the company. It
was for routing funds form one entity to another to hidden objective. Banks loans were diverted as advances to
third parties. The funds were diverted for purposes other than development.
63. Several companies were created for building assets. There was no compliance of the statutory obligations
by the companies. The annual returns and audited financial statements have not been filed after 31.3.2015. The
Registrar of Companies has disqualified the Directors, namely, Mr. Anil Kumar Sharma, Mr. Amresh Kumar,
Mr. Shiv Priya, Mr. Ajay Kumar and Mr. Suvash Chandra Kumar for a period of 5 years under Section
164(2) of the Companies Act, 2013. The Company has not been regular in payment of TDS and service tax and
has also not filed relevant returns after 31.3.2015. Mr. Anil Mittal, CA (Statutory Auditor) and Mr. Chander
Wadhwa, CFO were in connivance with each other. Mr. Anil Mittal, CA blindly signed the accounts and along
with Mr. Chander Wadhwa, CFO is grossly involved in making manipulation in the accounts. He has received
payment on account of professional charges in the name of companies in which his relatives were Directors
and this fact has not been disclosed in the audited financial statement. A sum of Rs.52.07 crore was adjusted
on account of professional fees due and to be paid on account of audit fees. Further, a sum of Rs.16.36 crore
was adjusted against a flat in Amrapali Princely Estate on account of audit fees. They incorporated 27
additional companies identified. They were shell companies, whose share capital was mostly subscribed in
cash and the transfer of shares was also in cash leaving no audit trail. The home-buyers funds to the extent of
Rs.5,619.47 crores have been diverted. There was diversion of funds to various suppliers, fake purchases and
advances without any adjustment. Siphoning off funds had also taken place by way of booking under-valued
transactions in respect of the sale of flats. The Forensic Auditors have also traces of receiving cash from home-
buyers, which is not accounted for in the books of accounts. The home-buyers funds were diverted to the tune
of Rs.5,619.47 crores to the other companies through (i) payment of professional fee to Directors for Rs.100.53
crores; (ii) bogus billing for Rs.842.42 crores; (iii) under-valuing of flats to the tune of Rs.321.21 crores; (iv)
brokerage was paid against flats which were not sold by the company; and (v) inter-corporate deposits were
given to related entities.
64. In J.P. Morgan, had also been found to routing money and in violation of FEMA by the Forensic Auditors.
As pointed out, the equity shares were purchased at an exorbitant price to suit the requirements of J.P. Morgan.
Sudit K. Parikh & Co., Chartered Accountants and the Auditors made the valuation on the basis of information
provided by J.P. Morgan Investments. Amrapali Zodiac Developers Pvt. Ltd. has diverted home buyers fund
and there was no need for any investment from J.P. Morgan. It was in the knowledge of Mr. Suraj Chhabria
and also in the knowledge of J.P. Morgan that money had been diverted.
65. Rule 4 of FEMA Rules has been referred by the Forensic Auditors pointing out that External Commerical
Borrowings (ECB) can be accessed under two routes namely Automatic Route and Approval Route. Under
Automatic Route, the ECB is not permitted to be utilized for real estate sector, whereas under Approval Route
the ECB are not permitted to be utilized for real estate. Rs.60 crores were remitted to Amrapali Leisure Vally
Developers Pvt. Ltd. by J.P. Morgan without obtaining approval from the competent authority so as to make
investment in the form of ECB. It is necessary to comply with the following :
66. The Forensic Auditors have also reported duplicate allotment of flats. They have provided the details of
flats. Flats were alloted (residential and commercial) to the brokers and suppliers of which list has been given.
Utilities like Milk Booth, nursery schools, senior secondary schools, nursing homes alloted to various parties
should be cancelled.
67. With respect to Sureka Group, it is pointed out in the Forensic Audit Report that they have been a partner
in various projects and were authorised cheque signatories in various companies. It is observed that Rs.13.44
crores were paid to Surekha Public Charitable Trust, which is a group institution of Jotindra Steel and Tubes
Limited, which amount should be recovered from Jotindra Steel & Tubes Limited. An amount of Rs.9,506,120
should also be recovered from Surekha Group. Funds were routed through Synergy Freightways Pvt. Ltd. Mr.
Atul Kumar was alloted a flat which was not by way of adjustment. The amount should be recovered or his flat
may be attached.
68. With respect to R.N. Traders, an amount of Rs.2,714.02 lakhs have been withdrawn by the management for
the purpose of their own use and should be recovered from the management. There is a billing of Rs.5.28
crores for the financial year 2015-16 in the name of Mauria Udyog Limited. Forfeiture of the investments has
also been suggested in the group companies named by the Forensic Auditors.
CONSIDERATION OF SUBMISSIONS
69. In the instant matter, the question of larger public importance is involved. It is a shocking and surprising
state of affairs that such large- scale cheating has taken place and middle and poor class home buyers have
been duped and deprived of their hard-earned money and lifetime savings and some of them had taken a loan
from the bank and they are not getting houses. Bank has made payment to the builder, owners have the liability
of making payment of amount with interest, home buyers are still waiting for their dream houses to be
completed. This is not only with respect to the Amrapali builders that projects have not been completed as
reflected in the affidavits of Noida and Greater Noida Authorities. More than 70% of the projects have not
been completed which were initiated way-back in the year 2008-09 and were supposed to be completed within
3 years. By the Amrapali Group, the buyers' money which has been obtained has not been invested in the
construction activities, rather it has been diverted to a great extent. Money obtained from the banks has also
not been invested in the projects and has been diverted elsewhere to acquire other assets.
70. There are huge liabilities of Noida and Greater Noida Authorities and though builders were asked way
back on 17.11.2017 to deposit 10% of the amount with the Noida and Greater Noida authorities, that order was
repeated again on 18.1.2018 but still that has not been complied with. Thereafter on the basis of joint note, this
Court directed Amrapali group of companies to complete the projects but the order was not complied with.
Various wrong representations were made in this Court. Developers backed out and an application was filed to
waive the condition of deposit of Rs.250 crores to start work by the Amrapali group that shows that its action
was mala fide and it never intended to complete various projects as rightly found by the forensic auditors and
that their intention was to divert the funds and this they had done at a large scale as is borne out from their
report.
71. The question involved in the case is whether the builders and promoters can be permitted to usurp and
divert the money of home buyers and home buyers can be left in the lurch as a silent spectator. As per the
Noida and Greater Noida authorities, in case the lease-deed is snapped, the entire constructed buildings shall
have to be demolished within 3 months. As per the bankers, they have a charge on the property as the land has
been mortgaged to them and until and unless their amount is paid, the builder will have no right on the
property which has been constructed by their money, and the buyers have also to wait for the satisfaction of the
dues.
72. In our opinion, if the real estate business has to survive in India, it has to be answerable to the public and
has necessarily to uphold the trust reposed in builders/promoters. They have been paid huge amounts not only
by the home buyers but also, they have to pay a huge amount for the public land given to them on lease by
Noida and Greater Noida Authorities for construction of houses. The land has been given to them by the
authorities on a concessional basis by making payment of 10% amount at the time of allotment. The builders
have to be accountable to public/home buyers as well as the authorities and bankers. It is a matter relating to
housing needs dealing with shelter place, such an activity is of the public importance as the real estate sector
plays a pivotal role in the fulfilment of needs of housing infrastructure.
73. The public trust doctrine imposes on the State and its functionaries a mandate to take affirmative action for
effective management, and the citizens are empowered to question its ineffectiveness. The land of the farmers
had been acquired for the purpose of housing and infrastructure needs by the State Government and handed
over to the concerned authorities for construction. They are bound to ensure that builders act in accordance
with the objective behind the acquisition of land and the conditions on which allotment had been made. It was
a duty of concerned officials; they are not only enjoined to ensure that the rights of the home buyers are
protected but also the interests of the authorities; and bankers. The public authorities are duty-bound to observe
that the leased property is not frittered away along with the money of the home buyers. Affirmative action was
clearly enjoined upon them not only under the statutory provisions of various enactments but also under the
public trust doctrine that has evolved over the years by this Court. In Noida Entrepreneurs Association v.
Noida & Ors. (2011) 6 SCC 508, this Court has observed:
"38. The State or the public authority which holds the property for the public or which has been assigned the
duty of grant of largesse, etc. acts as a trustee and, therefore, has to act fairly and reasonably. Every holder of a
public office by virtue of which he acts on behalf of the State or public body is ultimately accountable to the
people in whom the sovereignty vests. As such, all powers so vested in him are meant to be exercised for
public good and promoting the public interest. Every holder of a public office is a trustee.
*** *** ***
40. The Public Trust Doctrine is a part of the law of the land. The doctrine has grown from Article 21 of the
Constitution. In essence, the action/order of the State or State instrumentality would stand vitiated if it lacks
bona fides, as it would only be a case of colorable exercise of power. The Rule of Law is the foundation of a
democratic society. (Vide Erusian Equipment & Chemicals Ltd. v. State of W.B., AIR 1975 SC 266, Ramana
Dayaram Shetty v. International Airport Authority of India, AIR 1979 SC 1628, Haji T.M. Hassan Rawther v.
Kerala Financial Corpn., AIR 1988 SC 157, Shrilekha Vidyarthi v. State of U.P., AIR 1991 SC 537; and M.I.
Builders (P) Ltd. v. Radhey Shyam Sahu, AIR 1999 SC 2468).
*** *** ***
41. Power vested by the State in a Public Authority should be viewed as a trust coupled with duty to be
exercised in larger public and social interest. Power is to be exercised strictly adhering to the statutory
provisions and fact-situation of a case. "Public Authorities cannot play fast and loose with the powers vested in
them". A decision taken in an arbitrary manner contradicts the principle of legitimate expectation. An
Authority is under a legal obligation to exercise the power reasonably and in good faith to effectuate the
purpose for which power stood conferred. In this context, "in good faith" means "for legitimate reasons". It
must be exercised bona fide for the purpose and for none other. (Vide Commr. of Police v. Gordhandas Bhanji,
AIR 1952 SC 16, Sirsi Municipality v. Ceceila Kom Francis Tellis, AIR 1973 SC 855, State of Punjab v.
Gurdial Singh, AIR 1980 SC 319, Collector (District Magistrate) v. Raja Ram Jaiswal, AIR 1985 SC 1622,
Delhi Admn. v. Manohar Lal, (2002) 7 SCC 222 and N.D. Jayal v. Union of India, AIR 2004 SC 867)."
74. In Natural Resources Allocation, In re, Special Reference No.1 of 2012, (2012) 10 SCC 1, the Court
observed:
“172. The judgment in LDA v. M.K. Gupta, (1994) 1 SCC 243, brings out the foundational principle of
executive governance. The said foundational principle is based on the realization that sovereignty vests in the
people. The judgment, therefore, records that every limb of the constitutional machinery is obliged to be
people oriented. The fundamental principle brought out by the judgment is, that a public authority exercising
public power discharges a public duty, and therefore, has to sub-serve general welfare and common good. All
power should be exercised for the sake of society. The issue which was the subject matter of consideration, and
has been noticed along with the citation, was decided by concluding that compensation shall be payable by the
State (or its instrumentality) where inappropriate deprivation on account of improper exercise of discretion has
resulted in a loss, compensation is payable by the State (or its instrumentality). But where the public
functionary exercises his discretion capriciously, or for considerations which are malafide, the public
functionary himself must shoulder the burden of compensation held as payable. The reason for shifting the
onus to the public functionary deserves notice. This Court felt, that when a court directs payment of damages
or compensation against the State, the ultimate sufferer is the common man because it is tax-payers money out
of which damages and costs are paid."
75. In Association of Unified Tele Services Providers & Ors. v. Union of India & Ors. (2014) 6 SCC 110, the
Court observed:
"4. We have indicated, the worth of spectrum to impress upon the fact that the State actions and actions of its
agencies/ instrumentalities/ licensees must be for the public good to achieve the object for which it exists, the
object being to serve public good by resorting to fair and reasonable methods. State is also bound to protect the
resources for the enjoyment of general public rather than permit their use for purely commercial purposes.
Public trust doctrine, it is well established, puts an implicit embargo on the right of the State to transfer public
properties to private party if such transfer affects public interest. Further, it mandates affirmative State action
for effective management of natural resources and empowers the citizens to question ineffective management."
76. In the instant case, it is apparent that there are colossal dues of Noida and Greater Noida Authorities. The
dues of Noida Authorities as on 30.4.2019 are Rs.2191.38 crores and dues of Greater Noida authority are
stated to be Rs.3234.71 crores as on 15.1.2019. Thus, the total dues of Noida and Greater Noida authorities are
more than Rs.5426.09 crores; by now more than Rs.5500 crores. Payments were made to Noida authorities in
2010 and some amount in 2013; in-between or thereafter, except one or two payments no other amount has
been paid. There were several defaults in making the payment of the premium amount, lease money, even
the money payable to the farmers as compensation for land acquisition has not been paid by the builders, as is
apparent from the account statement filed on behalf of the Noida authority. Though the builder has realised
from home buyers the amount payable to authorities of Noida and Greater Noida as a component of the price
payable by them.
77. Once the Noida and Greater Noida Authorities knew very well that there were defaults, they could not have
allotted further land to the Amrapali group without insisting for payment of its dues. Secondly, it was not open
to the authorities to permit the sub-leases of plot of land executed by builders, thereby allowing the leaseholder
to earn a huge amount without making payment of the amount due to them. The officials of the authorities
have acted in clear breach of public trust. They have permitted the defaulting leaseholders to earn the amount
by sub-leasing its land of which dues had not been cleared. Thus, apparently, the officials of the authorities
acted clearly in collusion with the builders and overlooked the interest of the Authorities and home buyers
while permitting the sub-leases of plot of land to be granted. It passes comprehension how the officials of the
authorities could have permitted such sub-leases in the factual scenario of the case when even the basic
obligation to raise the construction was not being fulfilled by the builders and they were not paying the dues of
premium, lease money etc. The action of the officials of the authorities has the effect of causing unjust
enrichment of builder from the land held by the concerned authorities. It was wholly an illegal exercise
permitted.
78. We are of the considered opinion that the officials of the Noida and Greater Noida authorities have acted
clearly in a breach of public trust and apart from that, they have failed to act as per the statutory mandate, the
regulations and the terms of the lease deed. The transfer of the plot by the lessee was only on fulfilment of
certain conditions. The dues of lessor towards the cost of land were to be cleared in accordance with the
schedule of payment. Following provision is contained in lease deed dated 3.8.2010 entered into between
Greater Noida Industrial Development Authority and M/s. Amrapali Leisure Valley Developers Pvt. Ltd. The
relevant provision with respect to the transfer of the plot is extracted hereunder:
“TRANSFER OF PLOT . Without obtaining the completion certificate the Lessee shall have the right to sub-
divide the allotted plot into suitable smaller plots as per planning norms and to transfer the same to the
interested parties up to 30.0.2010, or as decided by the Lessor, with the prior approval of LESSOR on payment
of transfer charges @ 2% of allotment rate. However, the area of each of such sub-divided plots should not be
less than 20,000 sq. mtrs. However, the individual flat/plot will be transferable with prior approval of the
LESSOR as per the following conditions:-
(i) The dues of LESSOR towards the cost of the land shall be paid in accordance with the payment schedule
specified in the Lease Deed before executing of sub-lease deed of the flat.
(ii) The lease deed has been executed.
(iii) Transfer of flat will be allowed only after obtaining completion certificate for the respective phase by the
Lessee.
(iv) The sub-Lessee undertakes to put to use the premises for the residential use only.
(v) The Lessee has obtained building occupancy certificate from the Building Cell/Planning Department,
GREATER NOIDA.
(vi) First sale/transfer of a flat/plot to an allottee shall be through a Sub-lease/Lease Deed to be executed on the
request of the Lessee to the LESSOR in writing.
(vii) No transfer charges will be payable in case of the first sale, including the built-up premises on the sub-
divided plot(s) as described above. However, on a subsequent sale, transfer charges shall be applicable on the
prevailing rates as fixed by the LESSOR.
(viii) Rs. 1000/- shall be paid as processing fee in each case of transfer of flat in addition to transfer charges.”
(emphasis supplied)
79. In the lease deed, the schedule of payment was fixed. Two years was the period of the moratorium and
thereafter payment was to be made on expiry of 23.10.2012, onwards up to 23.4.2020. In case of default in
depositing the amount, the interest @ 15% compounded half yearly shall be leviable. With respect to the
extension of time, it is provided that in exceptional circumstances, time to deposit for payment of balance due
amount may be extended by the CEO for 15% interest compounded half yearly. The extension of time, in any
case, cannot be allowed for more than 60 days for each instalment to be deposited, subject to a maximum of 3
such extensions during the entire payment schedule. The provision relating to the extension of time is extracted
hereunder:
80. The lease was granted for a term of 90 years. It is specifically provided in lease deed condition No.(ii)(c)
that the lessee shall use the allotted plot for construction of group housing/flats/plots. Condition No.(ii)(c)(iii)
deals with the part transfer of the plot. It lays down normally the permission for part-transfer of the plot shall
not be granted under any circumstances. The lessee shall not be entitled to complete the transaction for sale,
transfer, assign or otherwise part with possession of the whole or any part of the building constructed thereon
before making payment according to the schedule specified in the lease deed of the plot to the lessor. Relevant
condition No.2(c)(iii) is extracted hereunder:
"(c) The Lessee shall use the allotted plot for construction of Group Housing/flats/plots. However, the Lessee
shall be entitled to allot the dwelling units on a sub-lease basis to its allottee and also provide space for
facilities like Roads, Parks, etc. as per their requirements, convenience with the allotted plot, fulfilling
requirements or building bye-laws and prevailing and under mentioned terms and conditions to the Lessor.
Further transfer/sublease shall be governed by the transfer policy of the Lessor.
i) Such allottee/sub Lessee should be a citizen of India and competent to contract.
ii) Husband/wife and their dependent children will not be separately eligible for the purpose of allotment and
shall be treated as single entity.
iii) Normally, the permission for the part transfer of plot shall not be granted under any circumstances. The
Lessee shall not be entitled to complete transaction for sale, transfer, assign or otherwise part with possession
of the whole or any part of the building constructed thereon before making payment according to the schedule
specified in the lease deed of the plot to the Lessor. However, after making payment of premium of the plot to
the Lessor as per schedule specified in the lease deed, permission for transfer of built-up flats or to part with
possession of the whole or any part of the building constructed on the Group Housing Plot, shall be granted
and subject to payment of transfer charges as per policy prevailing at the time of granting such permission of
transfer. However, the Lessor reserves the right to reject any transfer application without assigning any reason.
The Lessee will also be required to pay transfer charges as per the policy prevailing at the time of such
permission of transfer.
The permission to transfer the part of the built-up space will be granted subject to execution of tripartite sub-
lease deed which shall be executed in a form and format as prescribed by the lessor. On the fulfilment of the
following conditions: -
a) The lease deed of the plot has been executed and the Lessee has made the payment according to the
schedule specified in the lease deed of the plot, interest and one-time lease rent. Permission of sub-
lease deed shall be granted phase wise on payment of full premium (with interest up to the date of deposit) of
the plot of that phase.
b) Every sale done by the Lessee shall have to be registered before the physical possession of the property is
handed over.
c) The Lessee has obtained building occupancy certificate from the Planning Department, Greater Noida.
d) The Lessee shall submit list of individual allottees of flats within 6 months from the date of obtaining
occupancy certificate.
e) The Lessee shall have to execute sublease in favour of the individual allottees for the developed flats/plots
in the form and format as prescribed by the LESSOR.
f) The Sub-Lessee undertakes to put to use the premises for the residential use only.” (emphasis supplied)
81. In view of the aforesaid clause, by way of sub-lease of the plot, the transfer of plots could not have been
made by the lessee. The lessee was required to start construction within 12 months from the date of possession.
The date of execution of lease deed shall be treated as the date of possession. The lessee shall be required to
complete the construction of minimum 15% of the total FAR of the allotted plot as per the approved layout
plan and get occupancy/completion certificate within 3 years from the date of execution of the lease deed.
Cancellation of lease deed is also provided in the case of violation of directions, or rules, regulations or in case
of the default on the part of the lessee for breach or violation of terms and conditions of the
registration/allotment/lease and/or non-deposit of allotment amount. In the case of cancellation, if the plot is
occupied by the lessee, an amount equivalent to 25% of the total premium of the plot shall be forfeited and
possession of the plot will be resumed by the lessor with structure thereon, if any, and the lessee will have no
right to claim compensation thereof. The provision relating in lease deed as to its cancellation is extracted
hereunder:
“CANCELLATION OF LEASE DEED In addition to the other specific clauses relating to cancellation, the
Lessor, as the case may be, will be free to exercise its right of cancellation of the lease in the case of:-
1. Allotment being obtained through misrepresentation/suppression of material facts, misstatement and/or
fraud.
2. Any violation of directions issued or rules and regulation framed by Lessor or by any other statutory body.
3. Default on the part of the Lessee for breach/violation of terms and conditions of registration/allotment/lease
and/or non-deposit of allotment amount.
4. If at the same time of cancellation, the plot is occupied by the Lessee thereon, the amount equivalent to 25%
of the total premium of the plot shall be forfeited and possession of the plot will be resumed by the Lessor with
structure thereon, if any, and the Lessee will have no right to claim compensation thereof. The balance, if any,
shall be refunded without any interest. The forfeited amount shall not exceed the deposited amount with the
Lessor and no separate notice shall be given in this regard.
5. If the allotment is cancelled on the ground mention in sub-clause 1 above, then the entire amount deposited
by the lessee till the date of cancellation shall be forfeited by the Lessor and no claim whatsoever shall be
entertained in this regard.”
82. As provided by clause 6, the lease deed/allotment shall be governed by the provisions of the U.P. Industrial
Area Development Act, 1976 and by the rules and/or regulations made or directions issued under the Act.
Clause 7 requires the lessor to monitor the implementation of the project. The applicants who do not have a
firm commitment to implement the project within the time limits prescribed are advised not to avail the
allotment. In larger public interest the lessor under clause 13 is also given a right to take back possession of the
land/building by making payment at the prevailing rate. Condition Nos.6, 7 and 13 are extracted hereunder:
“6. The Lease Deed/allotment will be governed by the provisions of the U.P. Industrial Area Development Act,
1976 (U.P. Act No.6 of 1976) and by the rules and/or regulations made or directions issues, under this Act.
7. The Lessor will monitor the implementation of the project. Applicants who do not have a firm commitment
to implement the project within the time limits prescribed are advised not to avail the allotment.
13. The Lessor in larger public interest may take back the possession of the land/building by making payment
at the prevailing rate.” (emphasis supplied) Thus, it is apparent that the officials of the concerned authorities
have not discharged their duty in accordance with the trust enjoined upon them under aforesaid terms and
conditions of lease deed, thus, by their inaction, enabled cheating of the home buyers at a large scale. They
were well aware of what was happening on the spot.
IN RE: MORTGAGE
83. With respect to the creation of mortgage deed in favour of bankers etc., Noida Authority has submitted that
every mortgage permission is granted by the Noida Authority to the individual company of Amrapali group
wherein a provision is made that Noida Authority has first charge/priority over all other charges including
those created in favour of banks and financial institutions. The conditions on which permission to mortgage
had been granted are as under:
“This is to inform you that Noida shall have no objection for the purpose of financing his investment in the
project on Group Housing Plot No.001, Sector 119, Noida in favour of Nationalised Banks/Financial
Institutions/HUDCO, New Delhi or to issue NOC to mortgage the said land to facilitate the housing loans of
the final loans of the final purchasers subject to such terms and conditions as may be decided by the Authority
at the time of granting the permission. This permission is being granted subject to the condition that in the
mortgage deed, following clauses will be included:-
(i) That the financial institution in whose favour mortgage permission is required should be recognised by the
Reserve Bank of India/National Housing Bank/HUDCO New Delhi. Noida shall have the first charge towards
the pending payment in respect of plot/flat allotted/lease rent/taxes or any other charges as informed or levied
by the Authority on the plot and the banks/financial institutions/HUDCO New Delhi, shall have the second
charge on the dwelling units thus being financed.
(ii) The mortgage permission shall be effective on making full payment of premium and up to date annual
lease rent of group housing plot and after execution of sub-lease deed in favour of allottee of the dwelling unit
and the allottee/sub-lessee shall be governed by the terms and conditions of allotment/lease deed of the plot to
be executed and sub-lease deed to be executed in favour of the allottee sub-lessee. In the event of sale/transfer
of flat, transfer charges at the rate prevailing at the time of transfer shall be payable to Noida.
(iii) Each allottee/sub-lessee of the dwelling units shall have to intimate Noida of the creation of the mortgage
in favour of bank/financial institutions/employer and the bank/financial institution/employee of the allottee
shall also keep Noida informed about the dwelling units thus financed.
(iv) It is further to inform you that in the case of cancellation of lease, Noida Authority will give 30 days’
notice to nationalised Banks/financial institutions/HUDCO, New Delhi prior to exercising its right of re-entry
on the premises.” (emphasis supplied)
84. The permissions to mortgage containing aforesaid clauses have been placed on record along with affidavit
dated 22.11.2018. It is apparent from the second condition, subject to which permission to mortgage shall be
effective on making full payment of the premium and up to date annual lease rent of group housing plot and
after execution of the sub-lease deed in favour of the allottee of the dwelling unit, the allottee/sub-lessee shall
be governed by the terms and conditions of allotment/lease deed of the plot to be executed and sub-lease deed
to be executed in favour of the allottee/sub-lessee. Since at no point of time, payment of premium due had been
made and up to date annual lease rent had not been paid, no mortgage could have been created in favour of the
bank in view of specific condition No.2 extracted above. Thus, when the conditional permission granted by the
authority was furnished to the bank for obtaining the loan by promoters/builders, it was incumbent upon Bank
officials to ascertain from the concerned authorities that the premium due under the leases has been paid and
lease rent due up to date has also been paid. In order to create a mortgage, it was necessary to obtain clear
NOC in order to create effective mortgage deed. As that has not been done so far, no mortgage in the eye of
law has been created in favour of the bank. It was not open to the bankers to mortgage the land in view of the
conditional permission to create mortgage, the mortgage created in violation of condition cannot be said to be
effective in accordance with law as the land was owned by the concerned authorities and the lessees had right
to mortgage only subject to fulfilment of conditions imposed by the lessor/authorities.
85. On behalf of Noida and Greater Noida authorities, it was pointed out that they had taken steps reminding
the lessees to pay dues by issuing notices w.e.f. 2007 to 2017. In our opinion, in spite of no payment made by
lessees, failure to take action, makes their position further worse. As no effective action had been taken and
officials have permitted wilfully contumacious violations of conditions of the lease. Right under their nose and
to their knowledge serious kind of fraud had been taking place and officials have clearly connived with
builders. In spite of construction activity lying stand still for years together dues not being paid. As a matter of
fact, issuance of conditional NOC was with ulterior motive, there was no reason to issue such a conditional
permission, subject to which mortgage could have been made. They could not have issued any conditional
permission for creation of a mortgage also without payment of amount due, permission has been issued
obviously for being misused, in collusion with the officials of the bank and Authorities. It was incumbent upon
the concerned authorities not to issue such an NOC for a mortgage and it was incumbent upon the bank
officials in order to create a valid mortgage to ascertain from the Noida and Greater Noida Authorities that the
condition imposed by them as condition precedent to create a mortgage had been fulfilled and to obtain clear
NOC. But that is how in illegal manner the public money is obtained from banks for the purpose of
construction activity and then it was not used for that purpose, as found in the forensic audit report in which it
is rightly pointed out that there was a diversion of money. The amount of loan advanced by banks was not used
for the purpose it had been obtained for a particular project and it was diverted to other companies. It was
happening not only under the nose of Noida and Greater Noida authorities, but was directly in the knowledge
and connivance of the bankers as day-to-day transactions in the bank accounts were pointing out that the
money was being siphoned and diverted for other purposes routinely, not being utilised for the purpose it was
given. Thus, all of them have helped in perpetuating the fraud on the home buyers by Amrapali group of
companies, its various Directors, officials and others who have been specified in minute details in the forensic
audit reports. The case also indicates that not only the banks have failed to ensure that mortgage was effected
in accordance with the law, but also they have failed to check whether money was in fact, required for the
projects and was used for purpose it was lent. By the collusion, the money paid by home buyers to builders
which included money payable to the Authorities could be diverted, had the deposit made by home buyers
been unutilised, money due under lease would have been paid to authorities before the creation of the
mortgage. Money borrowed from bank, in fact, was not required for completion of these projects as the money
paid by the buyers was enough for that purpose, but that was also diverted and the money obtained from the
banks was also not utilised for the purpose it was taken and it was well within the knowledge of the bankers
and Authorities that the funds were being diverted, but they remained mute spectators. DIVERSION OF
FUNDS
86. It has been observed in extensive detail in the forensic audit report that the Bank of Baroda, Syndicate
Bank, Bank of India, Corporation Bank did not monitor utilisation of funds and acted as a mute spectator to
diversion which was almost happening evidently in all banking transactions. In the case of Amrapali Zodiac
Developers, Bank of Baroda has advanced an amount which was diverted immediately on receipt. The details
have been given in the forensic auditors' report extracted above. There was no amount due as on the date of the
transfer. In the case of Amrapali Princely Estate Pvt. Ltd., the details have been given with respect to the
Syndicate Bank and Bank of India as to how immediately on receipt, the funds were diverted to several parties.
In the case of Amrapali Eden Park Developers Pvt. Ltd., there was a receipt from the Corporation Bank, and
similar is the position. Immediately the funds were diverted to the third parties as detailed in the forensic
report. Details of diversion of loan funds have been given in a tabular form in Section XII from pages 426 to
457 of the report. The submissions which have been raised on behalf of Bank of Baroda that due observance of
norms was observed before sanctioning the loan, before disbursal and an independent Lenders' Engineer had
been appointed in order to monitor the contract. Monitoring was done during and post disbursal of loan by
Bank of Baroda. As a matter of fact, the bank has not been able to show what steps it has taken to stop the
diversion of funds to third parties on the same date of disbursal of the amount. The aforesaid stand of the Bank
is falsified by the Forensic Auditors’ report.
87. The transactions of Amrapali Zodiac Developers Pvt. Ltd. with J.P. Morgan were clearly in order to avoid
the provisions of the Companies Act. It is apparent that Mr. Anil Mittal, Statutory Auditor, did not report his
interest and disclosed about his relatives and junior employee as Director and shareholders. Mr. Chandan
Kumar was a junior employee and Mr. Atul Mittal was his relative. Thus, it is apparent that Rudraksha
Infracity Pvt. Ltd. was created for money laundering as aforesaid two Directors and shareholders had no
income, Rudraksha Infracity Pvt. Ltd. was incorporated to receive funds from Mannat Buildcraft which was
also created by Mr. Chander Wadhwa, CFO through his close associates. After receiving money from Mannat
Buildcraft Pvt. Ltd., the same was transferred to J.P. Morgan Investments for purchasing equity shares of
Amrapali Zodiac Pvt. Ltd. at an exorbitant price. There was no transaction before or after these transfers of
monies in the aforesaid dummy companies. To suit the requirement of J.P. Morgan Investments, in entirety
incorrect valuation report was prepared by M/s. Sudit K. Parikh & Co., Chartered Accountants. The
methodology and procedures defined of computation of fair market value were not followed at the time of exit.
J.P. Morgan was having full control on Amrapali Zodiac Developers and no action could have taken as per
clause 10.4.3 without investors' approval. The profit cannot be recognised until the project is completed. Thus,
there cannot be any distributable amount as profit for distribution to J.P. Morgan. It has also been found by the
Forensic Auditors that J.P. Morgan was in the knowledge of the fact that Amrapali Zodiac Developers had paid
the money received to other companies of Amrapali group. Advances exceeded the limits specified in the
shareholders’ agreement, but J.P. Morgan did not ensure bringing back the money. It was accepted by Mr.
Suraj Chhabria that it was in his knowledge and that of J.P. Morgan that the money has been diverted from
shareholder’s agreement and share subscription agreement. The valuation of the shares did not follow the
correct methodology of discounted cash flow as detailed out by the forensic auditors. The valuation exercise
was done backwardly in order to inflate the value of share to siphon out the money of home buyers through
J.P. Morgan.
88. The FEMA rules prohibited the kind of transactions which were entered into with J.P. Morgan. Rule 4 of
FEMA has been clearly violated. Master Circular No.8/2010-2011 of July 1, 2010, dealing with external
commercial borrowings and trade credits clearly provides that external commercial borrowings are not
permitted to be utilised for real estate business under the automatic route. The term real estate excludes the
development of the integrated township. It was not a case of development of the integrated township. Even if it
is taken to be a case of integrated township as submitted on behalf of J.P. Morgan, then also for approval route,
hedging is required as pointed out by the Forensic Auditors in their report and borrowers had to submit their
report about the signing of loan agreement with the lender for obtaining Loan Registration Number. In case
J.P. Morgan had invested in the form of ECB, following would have been the requirements: (i) obtaining Loan
Registration Number from the RBI; (ii) file ECB-2 returns every month to the RBI, (iii) to pay tax on interest
payment to J.P. Morgan; and (iv) to file income tax return. We are in agreement with the findings of the
forensic auditors in this regard. It is clear that it was a methodology adopted by the group to siphon out the
funds of the home buyers in violation of the FEMA rules and the notifications and by the creation of dubious
companies for which appropriate action is warranted by the concerned authorities.
89. The report of Forensic Audit also indicates that the Company has received a sum of Rs.140 crores during
the financial year 2012-13 from IPFFI Singapore PTE Limited under Foreign Direct Investment Scheme. As
per FEMA Rules, this amount was to be invested in real estate construction projects only.
90. The IPFFI Singapore PTE Limited which was incorporated on 20.5.2011, entered into a Share Subscription
Agreement with ASCPL on 23.8.2012 and paid a sum of Rs.140 crores to ASCPL in the following manner on
7.8.2012:
91. The ASCPL did not use the money for the project which was received from IPFII Singapore but transferred
Rs.85 crores to ACPPL and Rs.55 crores to repay bank loan instalments and repay the outstanding creditors
provided for in the books and standing in the books. The said payments have rightly been held by Auditors to
be in contravention of the FDI norms and rules and for which the money was brought in India.
92. From 2013 to 2015, ASCPL has paid interest of Rs.58.81 crores @ 17 percent, which is a highly abnormal
rate. A sum of Rs.14.41 crores was paid on 31.3.2013. Likewise, on 31.3.2014, Rs.22.20 crores were paid and
on 31.3.2015, another amount of Rs.22.20 crores was paid. The violations were made with the knowledge of
the IPFII Singapore and they were in connivance with the ASCPL.
93. The stand of the Bank of Baroda that they have independently appointed Lender’s Engineer is of no avail.
There was negligence on the part of Bank of Baroda and merely proceeding before the Court in 2017 to
recover the amount is not going to serve the purpose. More so, in view of the finding of the Forensic Audit that
there was no necessity of obtaining the loan from the Bankers as Amrapali Group had sufficient money from
the home buyers, which has also been diverted and has not been utilised in the construction activities. Other
assets have been created with the help of the same and the borrowings have been used in order to siphon off
the money by making payment of some unusual amount not only to J.P. Morgan, but also to IPFII Singapore in
violation of the FEMA Rules and FDI Rules as found by the Auditors in the respective cases.
94. It was submitted that the Bank of Baroda has obtained the deed of corporate guarantee inter alia from Ultra
Homes Construction Ltd, Rinku Clothing Creations Pvt. Ltd., Jotindra Steels and Tube Limited and
Vidyashree Buildcon Pvt. Ltd. RoC search report and CA certificate had also been obtained. Lender's Legal
Counsel Report dated 2.3.2012 verifying the validity and enforceability of financing documents and creation of
securing on assets of ASCPL is also on record. Jotindra Steels and Tubes Limited issued a corporate guarantee,
it was absolutely improper for the Bank of Baroda to discharge the bank guarantee without payment of amount
in view of the fact that Jotindra Steels and Tubes Limited was not ready to subscribe to the capital was no
ground for Bank of Baroda to discharge Jotindra Steels and Tubes Limited. Once guarantee has been given and
in view of the finding recorded by the Forensic Auditors as to the nature of bid by the Jotindra Steels and
Tubes Limited and other persons, it is apparent that action was illegal.
95. The leases had been granted by Noida and Greater Noida Authorities subject to the provisions contained in
U.P. Industrial Area Development Act, 1976. Section 13 of the U.P. Industrial Area Development Act, 1976
deals with imposition of penalty and mode of recovery of arrears, which states that where any transferee makes
any default in the payment of any consideration money or instalment thereof or any other amount due on
account of the transfer of any site or building by the Authority or any rent due to the Authority in respect of
any lease or where any transferee or occupier makes any default in payment of any amount of fee or tax levied
under the Act, in addition to the amount of arrears, a further sum not exceeding that amount shall be recovered
from the transferee or occupier by way of penalty. Under Section 13-A, any amount payable to the Authority
under Section 13 shall constitute a charge over the property and may be recovered as arrears of land revenue or
by attachment and sale of property in the manner provided under the provisions of Uttar Pradesh Municipal
Corporations Act, 1959 (Act no.2 of 1959). Section 14 provides for the resumption of any site or building and
forfeiture of whole or any part of the money if any paid in respect thereof.
“14. (1) In the case of non-payment of consideration money or any instalment thereof on account of the
transfer by the Authority or any site or building or in case of any breach of any condition of such transfer or
breach of any rules or regulations made under this Act, the Chief Executive Officer may resume the site or
building so transferred and may further forfeit the whole or any part of the money if any paid in respect
thereof.
(2) Where the Chief Executive Officer order resumption of any site or building under sub-section (1) the
Collector may, on his requisition, cause possession thereof to be delivered to him and may for that purpose use
or cause to be used such force as may be necessary.”
96. The Authorities have failed to take action under the aforesaid provisions. The Authorities have also failed
to perform the statutory duty cast upon them to take prompt action. Merely filing of the case against Unitech
Builders by way of petition in this Court did not furnish any grounds to the Authorities to remain silent
spectator on the perpetration of fraud committed on the home buyers by Amrapali Group of Companies. Public
trust doctrine requires an affirmative action, which was envisaged not only statutorily but under the Scheme
also. They were required to ensure that projects were completed within the stipulated period, otherwise, the
very purpose of the grant would stand frustrated and colossal loss of public money. Amrapali Group did not
pay even the amount due to be paid to the landowners on the part of land acquisition, it did not pay premium
annual lease amount interest to Authorities. They have violated every condition, but still, Authorities were bent
upon to condone everything. This reflects absolute dereliction of duty cast upon the Authorities.
97. The Noida and Greater Noida Authorities and the Bankers have permitted diversion of funds of home-
buyers and the possession of other assets by Amrapali Group. The buyers' money had been diverted, which
was meant for construction on payment of dues of Authorities in case they were paid timely by the Amrapali
Group to the Authorities and to the Banks substantively liability would have been cleared. But by their inaction
and rather conniving, the buyers were cheated by the Amrapali Group. Authorities did not object when
mortgages were effected in favour of Banks in violation of conditions. Bankers could not have violated
conditions. Now, whatever complete/incomplete structures are there, the Authorities are claiming that buyers
have no right and they have the first charge on the structure as they have to recover the amount, only thereafter
if anything is left out, can be paid to the buyers. In case the submission is accepted, it would amount to playing
further fraud upon the fraud. It was incumbent upon the Authorities as well as the Banks to prevent the fraud.
Now, if Banks, as well as the Authorities, are permitted to recover the amount from the home-buyers'
investment, in that case, it would be equally unjust and would be against the conscience of the law and nothing
would be left for buyers not even a brick and the structures have come up by investing their money. Law never
permits unjust gain based upon fraud. The principle “fraud vitiates” is clearly attracted and such a transaction
would become unenforceable and would be against the public trust doctrine. Real estate business can never
prosper in case of breach of trust, bankers, Authorities in connivance and the builders are permitted to take
away the innocent home-buyers' money without being accountable to their action/inaction. From tomorrow
huge money will be collected from home buyers by the builder, banks would act in connivance and the
Authorities sleep in slumber, permitting diversion of money of buyers/bankers, etc., and the home-buyers will
be paying the dues of all concerned without investment of a penny by builder and rather they are diverting the
money of the home-buyers in connivance with Authorities and Bankers and they are left without dream homes.
If that is a factual scenario, no Court can permit such fraud to be perpetrated. Since “fraud vitiates”, the
bounden duty of the Court is to act as parens patria not only to save the home-buyers but also to ensure that
they are not cheated.
98. Authorities and Bankers have not acted in furtherance of public interest and failed to perform duties
enjoined upon them. The kind of fraud that has taken place not only in Amrapali Group of Companies but at
large as more than 70 percent of the various projects have not come up, is alarming to the Courts to take
affirmative steps with the direction to prevent such frauds, restore the money of home-buyers and to punish
incumbents responsible for such act. At the same time to ensure that buildings are completed. It cannot be
denied that lifetime savings of home- buyers have been invested for purchase of a house with the faith and trust
they have given the money. The scheme of the Government is to promote the real estate for which land had
been acquired, even poor farmers have not been paid the compensation. The land allotted at throw away prices
of 10%, the allotment premium has not been paid and in an illegal manner plots have been allotted on huge
amount by builders is another fraud in collusion with Authorities.
99. How buyers get their houses and can be suitably compensated for the delay that has taken place in the
matter and they are left at the juncture where the builder has diverted the funds for the last several years and no
construction activities have taken place. For several years, no accounts were maintained from 2015 till date
and a lot of money had been withdrawn from the Banks. The orders passed by this Court on 22.11.2017 to
deposit 10 percent of the amount was not complied with by the Amrapali Group. Thereafter again on
17.5.2018, this Court permitted them to carry forward the project, but they did not do so and were not ready to
deposit the amount of Rs.250 crores to show their bona fide to undertake construction activity and efforts had
been made to wriggle out of assurances on which basis this Court had passed the orders.
100. On behalf of Authorities provisions contained in Section 13 of the Uttar Pradesh Apartment (Promotion
of Construction, Ownership, and Maintenance) Act, 2010 has been pressed into service. It is submitted that
transfer cannot be made in favour of home-buyer without executing the Transfer Deed. As per Section 5 of Act
of 2010, flat buyers become entitled to ownership and possession of the Apartment and undivided interest in
the common areas as specified in the deed of the Apartment. It is further submitted that tripartite sub-lease
deed has to be entered into in order to transfer ownership to the home-buyers, consisting of Authorities,
builders and home-buyers and before that is done, it is necessary for builder to obtain the completion
certificate on fulfilment of certain conditions. The main objection raised by the counsel is with respect to the
issuance of completion certificate is default of the payment of amount with interest to be made under lease and
relating to fire safety. It is also pointed out that completion certificate is necessary to be issued, the issuance of
the same would depend upon payment of the dues and the Authorities, later on, will have no mechanism to
recover the dues, once registered conveyance deed is executed in favour of home-buyers. According to
Authorities, the buyers may contend that they have paid the entire consideration to the builder, who has
defaulted in making the payment for the flat and the privity of making the payment is between the concerned
Authorities and the builder. It is also submitted on behalf of Authorities that in part completion also, the
certificate can be issued against the part payment received, however, the completion certificate would be
issued in the same proportion minus 10 percent so that financial interest of the Authorities is protected. Sub-
lease deed would be executed as per the present policy up to 90 percent of the proportion in which part
payment has been received.
101. In our opinion, in the ordinary course, there cannot be any dispute with respect to the aforesaid
propositions. However, in the instant case, the facts indicate that 9000 families are residing for the last several
years out of the sheer necessity of shelter place and they have not been provided with electricity connections
and other facilities due to non-issuance of occupancy certificate by the concerned authorities. Most of them
have paid the entire amount to the builders. The amount outstanding as against home buyers have to be used in
completion of building. The payment to be made to concerned Authorities had also been collected by the
builder from home buyers as component of price of flat, but has not been deposited with the concerned
Authorities and the home buyers’ money had been diverted, which was more than the dues of the Authorities
and the Banks taken together. Had timely action been taken by them no amount could have been diverted and
the position would have been different as it stands today. However, since we have attached various other
properties where home buyers’ money has been invested, the rights of the Authorities as well as bankers to get
the money recovered from the other properties of the builder Amrapali Group/Directors and where they have
invested money and belonging to the guarantors in the various transactions. However, at the same time for
want of payment to Authorities and Bankers by the builder under these facts and circumstances, it would be
absolutely improper for the Authorities to deny issuance of occupancy or completion certificate, especially on
the ground of non-payment of dues. As per the interim orders, we have ensured that fire safety devices are
fitted in buildings at appropriate places wherever necessary and in case it is lacking at any place we have to
ensure that they are fitted and there are no other violations pointed out in the construction so far made. Thus,
the concerned Authorities have to issue occupancy certificate as well as completion certificate with respect to
the projects in which home buyers residing without insisting for the payment of their dues. This Court has to
monitor the payment of the dues to the Authorities as well as the Bankers, from guarantors and other
proprietors. The innocent buyers cannot be made to suffer for no fault on their part.
102. Once Authorities have allowed 9000 home-buyers to occupy the premises without terminating the lease
on the ground that occupation is illegal. Obviously, builders have put them in possession, they are not the
encroachers and they have invested their valuable saving and have no other shelter place to live. They cannot
be deprived of their houses and cannot be left without basic necessities of life like water, electricity, etc. The
concerned Authorities are responsible to provide electricity, water, and all other basic amenities to buyers as
they have the right to occupy the premises. In the peculiar facts of the case, we have directed the Authorities to
provide basic necessities forthwith. We also direct the Central Government and Government of Uttar Pradesh
to ensure that everything is done to protect the interest of the home-buyers obviously without obliging the
builders. Wherever we seek any favour for home- buyers, we see that defrauding parties i.e.,
promoters/builders are further obliged by making certain concessions by the Government that would amount to
perpetrating further fraud and unjust enrichment of builder. The case poses challenge to the law enforcement
agencies to act in tandem to book such culprits.
103. When there are defaults galore, creation of fake and dummy companies in an unbridled manner, it passes
comprehension that how the Statutory Auditor has failed to discharge the duty cast upon him and the officials
of the Amrapali Group also shared hard earned money of home- buyers in an illegal manner by siphoning it
off. Directors had obtained salaries without doing anything. Money is diverted and siphoned off in other
projects. Office junior employees, peons and relatives etc. were inducted as Directors just to defraud the home-
buyers of their money and to siphon it out. Without material being supplied, a large amount of money had been
paid by way of forge purchases as a method to divert money even through authorised signatories and the
Companies of the relatives, family members and relations of the Directors and Guarantors also. In the case
fraud is to such large extent, it is difficult to capsulise the facts in a narrow compass, for that when we see the
report and good job done by the Forensic Auditors to unearthed the fraud. They have gone into minute details
forensically and done their job extremely well, due to which serious kind of fraud has been unearthed with the
involvement of so many persons as referred to by them. We direct the concerned Authorities to look into the
violation of the FEMA and FDI norms as projected by the Forensic Auditors in their report and to submit
progress report in this Court. IN RE: RERA
104. The Bill was passed in the Rajya Sabha on 10.3.2016 and in the Lok Sabha on 15.3.2016. The Bill
intended to standardise business practices and transactions in the real estate sector. It intends to ensure
consumer protection. It intends to regulate transaction related to both residential and commercial projects. The
Statement of Objects and Reasons are as under:
“STATEMENT OF OBJECTS AND REASONS The real estate sector plays a catalytic role in fulfilling the
need and demand for housing and infrastructure in the country. While this sector as grown significantly in
recent years, it has been largely unregulated, with absence of professionalism and standardisation and lack of
adequate consumer protection. Though the Consumer Protection Act, 1986 is available as a forum to the
buyers in the real estate market, the recourse is only curative and is not adequate to address all the concerns of
buyers and promoters in that sector. The lack of standardisation has been a constraint to the healthy and orderly
growth of industry. Therefore, the need for regulating the sector has been emphasised in various forums.
2. In view of the above, it becomes necessary to have a Central legislation, namely, the Real Estate (Regulation
and Development) Bill, 2013 in the interests of effective consumer protection, uniformity, and standardisation
of business practices and transactions in the real estate sector. The proposed Bill provides for the establishment
of the Real Estate Regulatory Authority (the Authority) for regulation and promotion of real estate sector and
to ensure sale of plot, apartment or building, as the case may be, in an efficient and transparent manner and to
protect the interest of consumers in real estate sector and establish the Real Estate Appellate Tribunal to hear
appeals from the decisions, directions or orders of the Authority.
3. The proposed Bill will ensure greater accountability towards consumers, and significantly reduce frauds and
delays as also the current high transaction costs. It attempts to balance the interests of consumers and
promoters by imposing certain responsibilities on both. It seeks to establish symmetry of information between
the promoter and purchaser, transparency of contractual conditions, set minimum standards of accountability
and a fast-track dispute resolution mechanism. The proposed Bill will induct professionalism and
standardisation in the sector, thus paving the way for accelerated growth and investments in the long run.
4. The Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Bill, 2013 inter alia provides for the following, namely:-
(a) to impose an obligation upon the promoter not to book, sell or offer for sale, or invite persons to purchase
any plot, apartment or building, as the case may be, in any real estate project without registering the real estate
project with the Authority;
(b) to make the registration of real estate project compulsory in case where the area of land proposed to be
developed exceed one thousand square meters or number of apartments proposed to be developed exceed
twelve;
(c) to impose an obligation upon the real estate agent not to facilitate sale or purchase of any plot, apartment or
building, as the case may be, without registering himself with the Authority;
(d) to impose liability upon the promoter to pay such compensation to the allottees, in the manner as provided
under the proposed legislation, in case if he fails to discharge any obligations imposed on him under the
proposed legislation;
(e) to establish an Authority to be known as the Real Estate Regulatory Authority by the appropriate
Government, to exercise the powers conferred on it and to perform the functions assigned to it under the
proposed legislation;
(f) the functions of the Authority shall, inter alia, include – (i) to render advice to the appropriate Government
in matters relating to the development of real estate sector; (ii) to publish and maintain a website of records of
all real estate projects for which registration has been given, with such details as may be prescribed; (iii) to
ensure compliance of the obligation cast upon the promoters, the allottees and the real estate agents under the
proposed legislation;
(g) to establish an Advisory Council by the Central Government to advice and recommend the Central
Government on – (i) matters concerning the implementation of the proposed legislation; (ii) major questions of
policy;
(iii) protection of consumer interest; (iv) growth and development of the real estate sector;
(h) to establish the Real Estate Appellate Tribunal by the appropriate Government to hear appeals from the
direction, decision or order of the Authority or the adjudicating officer;
(i) to appoint an adjudicating officer by the Authority for adjudging compensation under sections
12, 14 and 16 of the proposed legislation;
(j) to make provision for punishment and penalties for contravention of the provisions of the proposed
legislation and for non-compliance of orders of Authority or Appellate Tribunal;
(k) to empower the appropriate Government to supersede the Authority on certain circumstances specified in
the proposed legislation;
(l) to empower the appropriate Government to issue directions to the Authority and obtain reports and returns
from it.
(5) The Notes on clauses explain in detail the various provisions contained in the Real Estate (Regulation and
Development) Bill, 2013.
(6) The Bill seeks to achieve the above objectives.”
105. It is apparent from the aims and objectives that Act ensures greater accountability towards consumers and
significantly reduce fraud and delays. Accountability standards have been laid down where duties cast upon
promotors as well as the effort has been made to make consumer also responsible.
106. Before coming to the rival submission with respect to RERA, we deem it appropriate to note certain
provisions. Common areas have been defined under Section 2(n). The apartment has been defined
under Section 2(e). Section 2(k) defines carpet area, whereas Section 2(q) defines completion certificate.
Completion certificate to mean that certificate issued by competent authority certifying that the project has
been developed according to the sanctioned plan, layout plan and specifications as approved by the competent
authority. Occupancy certificate has been defined in Section 2(zf) which states that certificate issued by the
competent authority permitting occupation of any building which has provision for civic infrastructures such as
water, sanitation, and electricity. Section 2(zk) defines promoter as a person who constructs or causes to be
constructed an independent building or a building consisting of apartments or converts an existing building for
the purpose of selling to other persons; a person who develops land into a project; any development authority
or any other public body; an apex State level co-operative housing society etc.; any other person who acts
himself as a builder, coloniser, contractor, developer, estate developer or by any other name; and such other
person who constructed any building or apartment for sale to general public.
107. It is provided under Section 3 that no promoter shall advertise, market, book, sell or offer for sale any
plot, apartment or building in any real estate project or part of it without registration with the Real
Estate Regulatory Authority established under the Act. The provisions of the Act have also been made
applicable to the ongoing projects on the date of commencement of the Act and for which completion
certificate has not been issued, the promoter shall make an application to the Authority for registration of said
project within three months from the date of commencement of the Act.
The projects of Amrapali Group have registration under the RERA is an admitted fact. The provisions of the
RERA are applicable is also not in dispute.
108. Section 4 requires the application to be filed with specified documents for the purpose of registration. As
per Section 4(2)(l)(D), 70 percent of the amount realised for the real estate project from the allottees, from time
to time, shall be deposited in a separate account to be maintained in a scheduled bank to cover the cost of
construction and the land cost and shall be used only for that purpose and the promotor shall withdraw only to
the proportion of the percentage of completion of the project. The accounts have to be audited in every six
months and chartered accountant has to certify that amounts collected for a particular project have been
utilised for that project and the withdrawal has been in compliance with the proportion of the percentage of the
completion of the project. The provisions of Section 4(2)(l)(D) is extracted hereunder:
“4. Application for registration of real estate projects.- (1)** (2) The promoter shall enclose the following
documents along with the application referred to in sub-section (1), namely: —
(l) a declaration, supported by an affidavit, which shall be signed by the promoter or any person authorised by
the promoter, stating:- (A)** (B)** (C)** (D) that seventy per cent of the amounts realised for the real estate
project from the allottees, from time to time, shall be deposited in a separate account to be maintained in a
scheduled bank to cover the cost of construction and the land cost and shall be used only for that purpose:
Provided that the promoter shall withdraw the amounts from the separate account, to cover the cost of the
project, in proportion to the percentage of completion of the project: Provided further that the amounts from
the separate account shall be withdrawn by the promoter after it is certified by an engineer, an architect and a
chartered accountant in practice that the withdrawal is in proportion to the percentage of completion of the
project:
Provided also that the promoter shall get his accounts audited within six months after the end of every financial
year by a chartered accountant in practice, and shall produce a statement of accounts duly certified and signed
by such chartered accountant and it shall be verified during the audit that the amounts collected for a particular
project have been utilised for that project and the withdrawal has been in compliance with the proportion to the
percentage of completion of the project.
Explanation.- For the purpose of this clause, the term "schedule bank" means a bank included in the Second
Schedule to the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934 (2 of 1934);”
109. When we consider the provisions in the instant case, it was necessary to deposit the amount in the
account. In the year 2015, the RERA was in contemplation and certain provisions came into force on 1.5.2016
and some more Sections i.e., 3 to 19, 40, 59 to 70 and 79 and 80 came into force with effect from 1.5.2017.
110. A blatant violation of the provisions of RERA has been done by the Amrapali Group. Since RERA
contemplates timely completion of projects once registration has been granted under Section 5 and extension
of registration under Section 6, it is only in the event of force majeure in case there is no default on the part of
the promoter, registration can be extended in aggregate for the period not exceeding one year. Force majeure
shall mean a case of war, flood, drought, fire, cyclone, earthquake or any other calamity caused by nature. The
registration granted under Section 5 is valid for a period declared by the promoter. Section 7 provides that the
Authority may on receipt of a complaint or suo motu or on the recommendation of the competent authority
revoke the registration granted under Section 5 in case promoter makes default in doing anything required by
or under the Act or the rules or the regulation made thereunder; the promoter violates any of the terms of
approval given by the competent authority; the promoter is involved in any kind of unfair practice or
irregularities. It is also independently provided that in case the promoter indulges in any fraudulent practices,
the registration can be revoked. Upon revocation of the registration, the promoter shall be debarred from
accessing the website in relation to that project under Section 7(4)(a). Under Section 7(4)(b), the Authority
shall facilitate the remaining development works to be carried out in accordance with provisions of Section 8.
Provisions of Section 7 is extracted hereunder:
“7. Revocation of registration. - (1) The Authority may, on receipt of a complaint or suo motu in this behalf or
on the recommendation of the competent authority, revoke the registration granted under section 5, after being
satisfied that—
(a) the promoter makes default in doing anything required by or under this Act or the rules or the regulations
made thereunder;
(b) the promoter violates any of the terms or conditions of the approval given by the competent authority;
(c) the promoter is involved in any kind of unfair practice or irregularities.
Explanation.— For the purposes of this clause, the term "unfair practice means" a practice which, for the
purpose of promoting the sale or development of any real estate project adopts any unfair method or unfair or
deceptive practice including any of the following practices, namely:— (A) the practice of making any
statement, whether in writing or the visible representation which,—
(i) falsely represents that the services are of a particular standard or grade;
(ii) represents that the promoter has approval or affiliation which such promoter does not have;
(iii) makes a false or misleading representation concerning the services;
(B) the promoter permits the publication of any advertisement or prospectus whether in any newspaper or
otherwise of services that are not intended to be offered;
(d) the promoter indulges in any fraudulent practices.
(2) The registration granted to the promoter under section 5 shall not be revoked unless the Authority has given
to the promoter not less than thirty days notice, in writing, stating the grounds on which it is proposed to
revoke the registration, and has considered any cause shown by the promoter within the period of that notice
against the proposed revocation.
(3) The Authority may, instead of revoking the registration under sub-section (1), permit it to remain in force
subject to such further terms and conditions as it thinks fit to impose in the interest of the allottees, and any
such terms and conditions so imposed shall be binding upon the promoter.
(a) shall debar the promoter from accessing its website in relation to that project and specify his name in the
list of defaulters and display his photograph on its website and also inform the other Real Estate Regulatory
Authority in other States and Union territories about such revocation or registration;
(b) shall facilitate the remaining development works to be carried out in accordance with the provisions
of section 8;
(c) shall direct the bank holding the project back account, specified under subclause (D) of clause (I) of sub-
section (2) of section 4, to freeze the account, and thereafter take such further necessary actions, including
consequent de-freezing of the said account, towards facilitating the remaining development works in
accordance with the provisions of section 8;
(d) may, to protect the interest of allottees or in the public interest, issue such directions as it may deem
necessary.”
111. It is clear that RERA intends for completion of the project in case any fraud is committed by the promoter
and the activity is not completed, the home-buyers cannot be left in lurch, allowing the prayer on behalf of
Bankers as well as by the Authorities would amount to unfair treatment of home buyers in the facts of this
case. It is too late for them to submit that home buyer has no rights in the teeth of the provisions contained in
the RERA, which intends to prevent fraud.
112. Once registration lapses on non-completion of project within the time stipulated or it is revoked the
consequence ensue as enumerated in Section 8 of RERA, the Authority is enjoined upon the duty to consult
with the appropriate Government to take such action as it may deem including the carrying out of the
remaining development works by competent authority or by the association of allottees or any other manner as
may be determined by the Authority. The development work has to be completed and cannot be left in
between. Section 8 reads thus;
“8. Obligation of Authority consequent upon lapse of or on revocation of registration.- Upon lapse of the
registration or on revocation of the registration under this Act, the Authority, may consult the appropriate
Government to take such action as it may deem fit including the carrying out of the remaining development
works by competent authority or by the association of allottees or in any other manner, as may be determined
by the Authority:
Provided that no direction, decision or order of the Authority under this section shall take effect until the
expiry of the period of appeal provided under the provisions of this Act:
Provided further that in case of revocation of registration of a project under this Act, the association of allottees
shall have the first right of refusal for carrying out of the remaining development works.”
113. Functions and duties of the promoter are specified in Section 11. As per the provisions of this Section, the
promoter shall be responsible to obtain the completion certificate or the occupancy certificate. He shall also be
responsible for providing and maintaining the essential services on reasonable charges, till taking over of the
maintenance by the association of the allottees. The promoter shall enable the formation of an association or
society or co-operative society or federation of allottees. He shall pay all outgoings until he transfers the
physical possession to the allottee. After he has executed an agreement for sale for any apartment, plot or
building, he may not mortgage or create a charge on such an apartment, plot or building and if any such
mortgage or charge is made or created then notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time
being in force, it shall not affect the right and interest of the allottee. It is clearly provided under Section 11(4)
(h), which is extracted hereunder:
114. It is clear that is the duty of the promoter to abide by the time schedule of the completion of the project of
the allottee. The time of completion of the project is fixed from the date of the agreement. Though the RERA
has come into force after the mortgage had been created, the intendment of RERA is that after the execution of
the agreement no such mortgage or charge should be created.
115. Section 14 provides adherence to sanctioned plans and project specifications by the promoter. Section
15 deals with the obligations of the promoter in case of transfer of a real estate project to a third party. The
promoter shall not transfer or assign his majority rights and liabilities to a third party without obtaining the
prior written consent of two-thirds allottees and without the prior written approval of the Authority. Section
16 deals with obligations of promoter regarding the insurance of real estate project. Section 17 provides for the
transfer of title. It is incumbent upon the promoter to execute a registered conveyance deed in favour of the
allottee along with undivided proportionate title in the common areas to the association of the allottees or the
competent authority and the possession of the plot, apartment or building, as the case may be, shall be handed
over to the allottees and the common areas to the association of the allottees or the competent authority, as the
case may be. Section 17(1) is extracted hereunder:
"17. Transfer of title.- (1) The promoter shall execute a registered conveyance deed in favour of the allottee
along with the undivided proportionate title in the common areas to the association of the allottees or the
competent authority, as the case may be, and hand over the physical possession of the plot, apartment of
building, as the case may be, to the allottees and the common areas to the association of the allottees or the
competent authority, as the case may be, in a real estate project, and the other title documents pertaining
thereto within specified period as per sanctioned plans as provided under the local laws:
Provided that, in the absence of any local law, conveyance deed in favour of the allottee or the association of
the allottees or the competent authority, as the case may be, under this section shall be carried out by the
promoter within three months from date of issue of occupancy certificate.”
116. It is apparent that after the transfer of conveyance deed, the title vests in the allottee and of the common
area in the association of the allottees or the competent authority as the case may be. No title remains with the
promoter.
117. Section 18 deals with the return of amount and compensation. In case promoter fails to complete or is
unable to give possession of an apartment, plot or building, he shall be liable on demand to the allottees. In
case the allottee wants to withdraw from the project, without prejudice to any other remedy available, the
promoter has to return the amount received in respect of that apartment, plot, building with interest in this
behalf including compensation in the manner as provided under the Act.
118. The rights and liabilities of allottees are provided in Section 19, which is reproduced hereunder:
“19. Rights and duties of allottees.- (1) The allottee shall be entitled to obtain the information relating to
sanctioned plans, layout plans along with the specifications, approved by the competent authority and such
other information as provided in this Act or the rules and regulations made thereunder or the agreement for
sale signed with the promoter.
(2) The allottee shall be entitled to know stage-wise time schedule of completion of the project, including the
provisions for water, sanitation, electricity and other amenities and services as agreed to between the promoter
and the allottee in accordance with the terms and conditions of the agreement for sale.
(3) The allottee shall be entitled to claim the possession of apartment, plot or building, as the case may be, and
the association of allottees shall be entitled to claim the possession of the common areas, as per the declaration
given by the promoter under sub- clause (C) of clause (I) of sub-section (2) of section 4.
(4) The allottee shall be entitled to claim the refund of amount paid along with interest at such rate as may be
prescribed and compensation in the manner as provided under this Act, from the promoter, if the promoter fails
to comply or is unable to give possession of the apartment, plot or building, as the case may be, in accordance
with the terms of agreement for sale or due to discontinuance of his business as a developer on account of
suspension or revocation of his registration under the provisions of this Act or the rules or regulations made
thereunder.
(5) The allottee shall be entitled to have the necessary documents and plans, including that of common areas,
after handing over the physical possession of the apartment or plot or building as the case may be, by the
promoter.
(6) Every allottee, who has entered into an agreement for sale to take an apartment, plot or building as the case
may be, under section 13, shall be responsible to make necessary payments in the manner and within the time
as specified in the said agreement for sale and shall pay at the proper time and place, the share of the
registration charges, municipal taxes, water and electricity charges, maintenance charges, ground rent, and
other charges, if any.
(7) The allottee shall be liable to pay interest, at such rate as may be prescribed, for any delay in payment
towards any amount or charges to be paid under sub-section (6).
(8) The obligations of the allottee under sub-section (6) and the liability towards interest under sub-section (7)
may be reduced when mutually agreed to between the promoter and such allottee.
(9) Every allottee of the apartment, plot or building as the case may be, shall participate towards the formation
of an association or society or cooperative society of the allottees, or a federation of the same.
(10) Every allottee shall take physical possession of the apartment, plot or building as the case may be, within
a period of two months of the occupancy certificate issued for the said apartment, plot or building, as the case
may be.
(11) Every allottee shall participate towards registration of the conveyance deed of the apartment, plot or
building, as the case may be, as provided under sub-section (1) of section 17 of this Act.”
119. Certain rights and duties as well as the liabilities to pay interest in case of default on the part of allottees
are also provided in the provisions contained in Section 19. Chapter V provides for Real Estate
Regulatory Authority, whereas Chapter VI deals with the Central Advisory Council. The provisions relating to
Real Estate Appellate Tribunal are provided in Chapter VII. Chapter VIII contains provisions relating to
offences, penalties, and adjudication and Chapter IX deals with finance, accounts, audits, and reports.
120. It is apparent that RERA intends protection of home-buyers and aims at completion of the buildings. The
buildings have to be completed, for that, we are required to pass orders. We have already assigned the task to
NBCC for completion of buildings as the promoters/builders have failed to complete the building within the
time fixed and the time which could have been extended. Now, more than 10 years have passed and buyers
were given the assurances that they would get flats within three years period by the promoter/builder. The
maximum time fixed in RERA has also expired and extension could not have been beyond 1 year.
121. It is clear that common areas as provided under Section 17 have to be ultimately handed over to the
Association of Allottees or the Competent Authority as the case may be. Thus, any sub-lease, alienation or
transfer affected by the promoter of the common areas as defined in the RERA and otherwise reserved under
the plan shall be void and inoperative.
122. As the basic obligations have not been complied with by the promoters, they cannot also be entitled to
FAR. It was pointed out on behalf of Authorities that permissible FAR is 2.75, whereas it has been wrongly
mentioned and worked out at 3.50 by the Amrapali Group. In the instant case, we find that there is serious kind
of fraud by the promotors as such they cannot be said to be entitled to avail the FAR to utilise it or to alienate
and more so when they have failed to complete the projects and pay the dues.
123. It is also apparent from the provisions of the Act of 1976 as well as RERA and also the case set up by the
Authorities that partial occupation certificate can also be issued. The completion certificate can be issued
partially also as per the provisions of Uttar Pradesh Apartment (Promotion of Construction, Ownership,
and Maintenance) Act, 2010. The main obstacle is said to be non-deposit of the amount which may be ordered
to be paid, for that we may clarify in the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case, it has to be secured and
recovered by way of selling other attached properties and the one, which have been created out of the diverted
funds of the home-buyers and property of guarantors etc. The banks' borrowings have to be taken care of in a
similar manner. The money payable to the Authorities had been diverted and huge amount of buyers’ money
had not been invested in the projects neither any part of the money of bank borrowings, in fact, were spent in
the construction as found by the Forensic Auditors. The promoters are held accountable for the diversion of the
money paid by the buyers as component of price of flats even on account of payment to Authorities.
124. There appears to be non-issuance of the completion certificate, whereas the buildings are being occupied,
we direct issue of completion certificate. This Court has to monitor the payment of dues of the Authorities and
Banks and that outstanding are not going to create hurdle in the execution of the registered
document/conveyance deed in favour of home buyers. It has to be executed by the concerned Authorities as
well as by the Court Receiver and by the home buyers. The amount which is due on the part of home buyers
has to be deposited in the account, which has been opened, in the UCO Bank by this Court. It has to be utilised
firstly for the purpose of completion of the buildings and for providing other facilities and the home buyers of
incomplete projects also have to deposit the outstanding amount on their part in the aforesaid account opened
in the UCO Bank and out of that amount, it has to be disbursed as per the orders to be passed by this Court for
the purpose of construction and outstanding if any, shall be used for the purpose of payment of compensation
to home buyers for the period of delay as per the agreement or as may be determined ultimately and other dues.
125. With respect to percentage of profit of NBCC, we fix it at 8 percent. As it is a Government Undertaking,
NBCC has to ensure that DPR is prepared reasonably and the work to be completed as expeditiously as
possible.
126. Learned senior counsel on behalf of Bank of Baroda submitted that Amrapali Group as per the conditions
of the lease deed executed by the Noida Authority had the right to mortgage the land with the prior permission
of the authority for raising loans for the purpose of financing investment in the project. No doubt the lease
deed contained a stipulation as to mortgage with prior permission but no clear-cut permission had been
obtained from Noida authority. Noida authority has clearly stated as rider that until and unless the entire due
premium is paid along with lease money due, no mortgage can be effected. The stand of the authority is clear
that without payment of land dues no mortgage could be effected. Thus, in fact in the eye of the law no
mortgage could be created as there was no permission to mortgage unless the dues were paid and thus the bank
could not have mortgaged the property before clearance of the dues of the Noida Authority, and secondly, the
mortgage was permissible for the purpose of financing the investment in the project. As a matter of fact, when
this was the stipulation, it was the banker's duty to ensure that money made available was invested in the
project.
127. The Forensic Auditors’ report makes it apparent that Bankers have failed to ensure and oversee that the
money was invested in the projects. It was diverted elsewhere as rightly found by the Forensic Auditors. Thus,
no charge can be said to have been created by bank loans on the projects as the money, in fact, it has not been
used in the projects as such home buyers cannot be saddled with liability and also the projects. Even what was
paid by the home buyers, had not been used in the projects and stands diverted. There was, in fact, no necessity
for raising the loans from the bank. The money borrowed from banks was used to create other assets worth
thousands of crores. Thus, the banks can realise their money from those assets and from guarantors and not
from the investment of home buyers, not from the buildings in which loans granted by banks have not been
invested, which have been erected partially or some are at the nascent stage, for which hard-earned money has
been paid by the home buyers. Home buyers are not direct party to the bank loan, thus it was the duty of the
bankers and Noida authorities, if they wanted to impose their charge, to ensure that no fraud takes place and
money is invested in the projects for the purpose for which it has been taken not only the money paid by the
home buyers but obtained from the banks and due to be paid to Noida authorities, is not usurped illegally by
promoter/builder. Though it was realised as part of the component of the price of flat from the home buyers, by
the promoters/builders its illegal diversion was permitted by Amrapali Group in connivance with the officers
of the authorities and the bank. Thus, the very condition of investment in the project by bankers, subject to
which the mortgage was permissible, had been violated. Thus, it cannot be said that any charge of the banks
has been created on the projects. The charge would be on the property which has been purchased/created by
dubious methods. It would be inequitable to fasten the charge against the investment made by the home buyers
whereas they have not been benefited and rather have been cheated by the promoters for which bankers, as
well as authorities, have to share the blame. We cannot perpetuate another fraud on the innocent home buyers
in facts of the case of fastening liability of amounts payable to Authorities and Bankers.
128. Learned senior counsel on behalf of the Bank of Baroda, also submitted that the home buyers are not
secured creditors, as such they have no right over secured creditors. While making the aforesaid submissions
the provisions of RERA have been ignored. Though they may not be a secured creditor, they have a right to be
treated in accordance with the law, fairly and they cannot be subjected to a fraudulent action by the promoters,
that too in connivance with the bankers and officials of the Noida and Greater Noida authorities. Even
otherwise, in such a situation the court has to come to their rescue and protect their interests, and it is the duty
of the court to ensure that buyers get flats and development work is completed as intended under the RERA
and the flats are handed over to home buyers after completion. In case the fraud is permitted to be perpetrated
on the home buyers, the very purpose of enactment of RERA would stand defeated.
129. No doubt about it as submitted on behalf of Amrapali group of companies, that the provisions of RERA
are for protecting the interests of promoters also. No doubt about it that the RERA intends to protect the
interests of the promoters and home buyers both. However, in the instant case, we have given the opportunity
to the promoters to deposit the 10% of the amount in December 2017 and January 2018 but orders have met
with non-compliance with all impunity. Thereafter on the assurance of the Amrapali Group that it would
undertake the construction work and a joint plan was submitted after great wastage of time and energy and
then order dated 17.5.2018 was passed that was also not complied with. It was passed on a condition that a sum
of Rs.250 crores to be deposited which was also not deposited by the Amrapali group to show its bona fide.
The Group never intended right from the beginning to complete the construction work, has been rightly
observed by Forensic Auditors. Thereafter, we have assigned the work to the NBCC. But at the same time, the
effort has been made by Amrapali Group/ its Directors to sell the property which has been created by diversion
of home buyers’ funds. Incorrect facts have been stated and suppressions have been made in various affidavits
filed in this Court that the certain properties are not encumbered. Various applications are being filed one after
the other by the encumbered holders with respect to several properties that they have the charge over the said
property.
130. That apart, several attached properties have been put to sale by DRT under the orders of this Court. In
most of the cases, no buyers have turned up and/or the price offered by forming a cartel are too low. The
property cannot be sold at throw away price. For example, in the case of a hospital situated at Noida, the very
group of doctors wanted to purchase, it who are running it, at a paltry sum by forming a cartel. Aforesaid is
one of the examples of cartel formation that is how Amrapali group is instrumental in not allowing the
properties to be sold. There appears to be some invisible hand holding buyers out and even the bankers are not
coming up to finance the purchasers, is the genuine grievance pointed out at the Bar. Be that as it may. Entire
gamut of facts indicates the contumacious conduct of Amrapali Group, proper and correct disclosures on oath
have not been made, even encumbrances are not being specified clearly in spite of repeated orders passed by
us. They have sold several valuable properties during pendency of petitions as pointed out by the Forensic
Audit Report. In the aforesaid circumstances, the submission raised on behalf of Amrapali group that under the
provisions of the RERA their interest should be protected. In our opinion, considering the serious kind of fraud
unearthed on the forensic audit, formation of dummy companies, violation of norms of foreign investment,
violation of FEMA, siphoning off the money of home buyers, making payment of dividend without profits and
a methodology had been devised of valuing the shares on an unreasonable higher basis so as to siphon out the
money of the home buyers to J.P. Morgan etc. The creation of a large number of assets with the help of money
of the home buyers. The Forensic Audit unfolds the true story of Amrapali Group. Right from 2015, no
construction activity has taken place. Account books had not been maintained and money has been transferred
continuously. No audit was made. Money was taken out from banks, and fake purchases have been made.
Thus, they are not at all entitled for any indulgence under the provisions of the RERA. In view of their unholy
conduct, defying description, their contumacious fraudulent conduct totally disentitles them and they are
required to be dealt with as sternly as possible so as to make it exemplary one that such fraudulent actions do
not recur in future, in real estate business in India. We are not a country in which Courts will permit such
action and permit a person to go scot-free.
131. The agreement initially executed in favour of home buyers to purchase flats may not create any right in
the property in praesenti, it will be only on the execution of the registered document that title is going to be
perfected, but investment in project is only of home buyers. In this case, as they have paid money invested in
projects, it is for the courts to do complete justice between the parties and to protect the investment so made
and interests of home buyers and to ensure that they get the perfect title and the fruits of their hard earned
money and lifetime savings invested in the projects.
132. On behalf of Bank of Baroda, learned senior counsel submitted that the agreement of promoter/builder
with home buyers is unregistered as such, no right has been created in the immovable property in view of the
provisions contained in section 49 of the Registration Act. The submission ignores and overlooks the
provisions of RERA which intends to prevent such frauds on home buyers and ensure completion of projects
and that of the agreement between promoters and buyers. There are various rights under the agreement as well
as under the RERA. The agreement entered into at the time of allotment is the basis of the investment in the
projects made by home buyers, it cannot be said to be a scrap of paper. It is their valuable investment which is
required to be protected and cannot be permitted to be taken away by builder or secured creditors in an illegal
manner. The provisions of section 17 of the Registration Act no doubt provide that a document of title requires
compulsory registration, no doubt registered document has to be executed that also has to be taken care of by
the Court so as to protect the interest of home buyers.
133. Learned senior counsel appearing on behalf of the Bank of Baroda urged that by virtue of the provisions
contained in section 11(4)(g) of the RERA Act, it is the duty of the promoter to pay all outgoings until he
transfers the physical possession of the real estate project to the allottee or the association of allottees, which
he has collected from the allottees, for the payment of outgoings, including the land cost, ground rent,
municipal or other legal taxes, charges for water or electricity, maintenance charges, including the mortgage
loan and interest on mortgages or other encumbrances and such other liabilities payable to competent
authorities, banks and financial institutions, which are related to the project. The two expressions of the
provisions of Section 11(4)(g) are significant. Firstly, which the promoter has collected from the allottees.
Secondly "which are related to the project". In the instant case dues of the Noida/Greater Noida authorities
have been collected from the allottees by the promoters but the authorities have permitted diversion of said
amount by not taking any action in view of the chronic default right from the beginning. Though they knew
that the promoter had booked the flats, even the permission to grant sub-lease of the plot had been granted in
totally illegal manner without payment of dues of premium and lease rent etc. Conditional permission to the
mortgage was issued without payment of the premium lease money etc. so as to perpetuate the fraud being
done by the promoters. The mortgage created ought to have been objected in view of the conditions subject to
which it could have been done. Obviously, it was done by Amrapali Group in connivance with officials of
Authorities including the bankers. Thus when the authorities have themselves permitted fraudulent action
money has been diverted, which has been paid by home buyers for payment to Authorities also, as premium
was component of price and as bankers have also permitted diversion of loan amount, mostly on same day, it
cannot be said in the facts of the case, that any amount of the bankers or that of authorities remains invested in
the project. The sine qua non is the expression "which are related to the project" would mean that that amount
recoverable from the allottee is the one which has been invested in the project. A third person can be held
liable for the money payable to secured creditors in case it has been invested in the project, in case it has not
been spent in constructions, same cannot be permitted to be realised from the project/home buyers, the
investment of home buyers cannot be frittered away and to fasten liability upon the innocent buyers/allottees in
that event would tantamount to perpetrating yet another fraud on them. Accountability, as per law, has to be
fastened on promoters/builders and all concerned. It would amount to total deprivation of money of home
buyers without any fault on their part or legal liability. It would amount to fastening liability upon them once
over again by misuse of the process of law. The factual matrix unfolded on forensic audit indicates serious
kind of fraud that has taken place which would shut the enforcement of liability clause as against the home
buyers. The provisions of the first and second charge cannot come to the rescue of Authorities/Bankers.
Under Section 11(4)(g) the promoter has to pay all outgoings which he has collected from the allottees, the
payment of outgoings includes land cost, ground rent, charges for water or electricity, maintenance charges etc.
As per the proviso to Section 11(4)(g), the promoter shall continue to be liable, even after the transfer of the
property, to pay such outgoings and penal charges, if any, to the authorities. Outgoings which have been
collected by the promoter can be and have to be recovered in the facts and circumstance of the case from them
as intended by section 11(4)(g) of RERA.
134. Learned senior counsel on behalf of the Bank of Baroda submitted that the provisions of section 11(4)(h)
of RERA provides that the promoter, after he executes an agreement for sale for any apartment, plot or
building, cannot mortgage or create a charge on such an apartment, plot or building, as the case may be, and if
any such mortgage or charge is made or created then it shall not affect the right and interest of the allottee who
has taken or agreed to take such apartment, plot or building, as the case may be. The provision has a non-
obstante clause. As the provision has given an overriding effect by non-obstante clause, the provision is no
help to the banks as the agreement had been by promoters with home buyers entered into earlier in point of
time to the creation of the mortgage. There could not have been any mortgage created subsequently and even if
validly created, it would not affect the right and interest of the allottee as intended by RERA. Thus, the right
and interest of the allottee are safeguarded by virtue of the provisions contained in section 11(4)(h). As the
project was pending, the provision intends to confer a right on the allottee and save the allottees and also their
interests from such liability. Even if the provision is held not applicable on the ground that RERA came into
force later, since there was no valid mortgage as held by us, it was incapable of affecting the right or interest of
the allottee. Had it been ensured that the money due to Noida and Greater Noida authorities was paid by the
promoters to the authorities, the fraud of siphoning of money would not have taken place to the extent it has
been done. Moreover, the money borrowed from banks has not been invested in the projects. In fact, projects
required no funding. It would be iniquitous to charge the allottees with the bankers' money. Thus, in the
peculiar facts and circumstances of the case, we hold that rights or interests of the allottees are not at all
affected by the mortgage created by the bankers or by the dues of the Noida or Greater Noida authorities.
135. On behalf of the Bank of Baroda, Shri Maninder Singh learned senior counsel has submitted that section
4(2)(1) of the RERA requires the promoter to disclose the prior encumbrance. Therefore, the RERA
contemplates the creation of encumbrance even before the project is registered and such a plot can be offered
to allottees. Basically, a declaration is required under section 4(2)(l)(A) that the land is free from
all encumbrances or as the case may be, details of the encumbrances, if any, on such land, should be disclosed.
The intention is that the allottee should know about the encumbrance if any. The provision does not espouse
the cause of the bank in any manner whatsoever.
136. On the strength of the provision of section 19(4) of RERA, learned senior counsel has submitted that the
allottee should be entitled to claim the refund and compensation, if the promoter fails to comply or is unable to
give possession of the apartment, plot or building in accordance with the terms of the agreement for sale or due
to discontinuance of his business as a developer on account of suspension or revocation of his registration
under the provision of the RERA or the rules and regulations made thereunder. He submitted that the right of
the allottees is restricted to only receiving the compensation from the promoters. We wholly disagree with the
submission. It is made in oblivion of the provisions of Section 8 of the RERA which provides for completion
of the development projects by the competent authority or by the association of allottees or in any other
manner, as may be determined and the association of allottees shall have the first right of refusal for carrying
out the remaining development work is the wholesome provision contained in the second proviso to section 8.
To claim compensation is at the option of the allottee if the allottee wants to go out. That is an additional right,
not the only right conferred under the RERA. He cannot be left in lurch but is entitled to claim the refund if he
so desires. It is his option to claim the refund along with interest and compensation which is to be determined
under the RERA. The rights of the allottees are not restricted to only receiving the compensation as submitted.
The submission is too tenuous to be accepted.
137. A submission has also been raised that the RERA recognises and protects interests of the lenders and does
not in any manner take away rights under any of the existing statutes such as T.P. Act, Debt Recovery Tribunal
Act, SARFAESI Act. It is apparent from a perusal of RERA, which is a special Act, that certain rights have
been created in favour of the buyers. The provisions of RERA have to prevail. When we come to the question
of protection of rights of buyers even if RERA had not been enacted, under aforesaid laws in the facts of the
case, a different view could not have been taken. However, there is no dispute that the bankers would have the
right to recover their dues from whom and in what manner is the question which we have already answered.
The provisions of RERA are beneficial to the home buyers and are intended to insulate them from fraudulent
action, ensures completion of the building and it is the duty of the court to protect and ensure the home buyers’
interest and at the same time to hold them responsible for the duties enjoined upon them under the said statute.
We are not absolving the home buyers from the discharge of their liability if any. At the same time, they have
the right of enforcement of their right for compensation due to undue delay in completion of the project.
138. It was submitted by learned senior counsel on behalf of the Greater Noida authority that title has to pass in
home buyers by way of registered document as provided in section 17(1)(b) of the Registration Act and section
13 of the U.P. Apartments Act, 2010 and also the provisions of the lease deed. The deed of transfer will be a
tripartite sub-lease deed. Completion certificate has to be obtained, for that it has to be applied for. Dues of the
authorities have to be paid before a completion certificate is issued. The charge of Noida and Greater Noida
authority has priority over other charges. None of the aforesaid submissions impress us so as to defeat the
rights of home buyers. We have already dealt with that the dues have to be recovered in accordance with law
from the properties which have been created by the funds which have been diverted and the property of the
directors etc. In order to do complete justice between the parties so that the faith of public is not shaken in the
real estate sector and such frauds are prevented in the future. We cannot permit the authorities in the facts and
circumstances of the case to deal with the rights of the home buyers in arbitrary and in an unjust manner.
139. In case the authorities are making allotment of plots at a paltry sum of 10% and giving the builders 8
years period to make payment of premium with a moratorium of 2 years then the period runs to 10 years and
the project is to be completed within 3 years. It is clear that the authorities have to be very vigilant for securing
their interests otherwise in every case even if the promoter has completed the project and realised the
charges from the home buyers and has not deposited the amount due to the authorities, in case no action is
taken by the Authorities, can it be taken after 10 years against home buyers. The question arises whether
innocent home buyers would have to pay the amount to authorities which they have already paid to promoters
as part of the component of cost of flats or plots as the case may be, whether they are to be saddled once over
again with the liability to pay, though the amount paid by them has been illegally usurped and diverted
elsewhere and not paid to the authorities and they have acted in connivance of officials. The authorities have to
be vigilant in such cases and not to tolerate the default. They have to blame themselves for their inaction and
have to wait for the realisation of dues by sale of other properties and as against guarantors etc. The projects
have to be completed as mandated by Section 8 of RERA
140. It was submitted that the authorities on cancellation of the lease have to forfeit 25% of the amount and
have to resume the lands along with the structure. It cannot be done in view of the provisions of RERA,
particularly in view of the provisions of section 8 and other beneficial provisions contained in the said Act.
Under section 14 of the Act of 1976, there can be forfeiture of the entire amount also, in case of breach of
condition or breach of rules, etc. by the promoters/ builders. Be that as it may. We hold and direct no action
under any provisions derogatory to the interest of home buyers can be taken either by the authorities or the
bankers in the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case, that is to say, that no part of the building can be
demolished. Buildings have to come up and completed even the ones which are at the nascent stage as
mandated by RERA. No doubt about it that in case of failure to pay the dues the onus of payment of land dues
has to be passed on to the buyers on pro-rata basis but in the instant case they have already paid the substantial
amounts, huge amount has been permitted to be diverted by the authorities and bankers as such they have to
wait for recovery and cannot act in a manner further detrimental to the interests of the home buyers.
141. On behalf of Amrapali group, learned senior counsel submitted that there were force majeure conditions
in completing the projects. There were legal impediments in the completion of projects within the period given
in the flat-buyers agreement during the period from 2011-15. The submission is baseless. It is apparent that the
Full Bench of the High Court though held that the land acquisition was vitiated but still it was upheld. The
High Court did not quash it for the reason that development has taken place. Higher compensation was ordered
to be paid. That order was affirmed by this Court in 2015 in Savitri Devi v. State of U.P. (2015) 7 SCC 21.
There was no interim stay granted by the High Court on construction work, is made clear by the Noida and
Greater Noida authorities. There was no room to entertain any doubt as to the fact whether for a particular
village the acquisition had been quashed. There was no quashing of land acquisition and moreover, there was
no stay. Only higher compensation was ordered to be paid. There was no force majeure condition or any legal
impediment as such the period from 2011 to 2015 cannot be treated as a moratorium period vis-à-vis the dues
of Noida and Greater Noida authorities. The submission made as to the farmers' agitation etc. is too vague and
30% of the projects have come up; whereas 70% have not yet come up, out of the projects in Noida and
Greater Noida alone. It goes to indicate how at large-scale middle-class home buyers have been defrauded of
their hard-earned money, taken away by the affluents and the officials in connivance with each other. Law has
to book all of them. We are hopeful that law will spread its tentacular octave to catch all culprits responsible
for such kind of fraud causing deprivation to home buyers. It is shocking and surprising that so many projects
have remained incomplete. Several lakhs of home buyers have been cheated. As if there is no machinery of
law left to take care of such situation and no fear left with the promoters/builders that such acts are not
perceivable in a civilised society. Accountability is must on the part of everybody, every institution and in
every activity. We fail to understand the standard of observance of the duties by public authorities has gone so
down that such frauds take place openly, blatantly, and whatever legal rights exist only on papers and people
can be cheated on such wide scale openly, brazenly and with the knowledge of all concerned. There is duty
enjoined under the RERA, there has to be a Central Advisory Council as well as the role of the State
Government is not ousted in order to protect against such frauds. We direct the Central Government and the
State Government to take appropriate steps on the time-bound basis to do the needful, all other such cases
where the projects have remained incomplete and home buyers have been cheated in an aforesaid manner, it
should be ensured that they are provided houses. The home buyers cannot be made to suffer when we are
governed by law and have protective machinery. Question is of will power to extend the clutches of law to do
the needful. We hope and trust that hope and expectation of home buyers are not going to be belied.
142. We are not impressed by the submission that Amrapali Group had taken the lands and had paid a part of
dues and has invested a certain amount. The statement of the expenditure of the money of the home buyers, in
the construction activity that has been filed in the Court, is not supported by documents and is prima facie a
scrap of paper. We have called the concerned incumbents who have prepared it and cross-checked from them
and we are satisfied that the statement filed on the expenditure of Rs.10,000 crores is nothing but a scrap of
paper not supported by the books of account, supporting documents. It has to be outrightly rejected as there is
an attempt made on siphoning off, apparent from the report of the Forensic Auditors also.
143. In his affidavit, Anil Kumar Sharma has given details of companies from which funds were transferred to
the extent of Rs.2,996.20 crores to different group companies, mainly from following nine
companies: CHART “E” DETAILS OF MAJOR COMPANIES FROM WHERE FUNDS WERE
TRANSFERRED IN THE FORM OF ICD AND SHARE CAPITAL AS PER BALANCE SHEET TILL 2015
Consolidated Amount Transferred from Amrapali Group till 31st March S. No. Name of Companies Net
amount Transmitted/ Transferred from these companies of Amrapali Group of Companies (A) Amount in Cr, 1
Amrapali Smart City Dev. Pvt. Ltd. 538.59 2 Amrapali Centurian Park Pvt. Ltd. 518.78 3 Amrapali Dream
Valley Pvt. Ltd. 445.33 4 Amrapali Leisure Valley Pvt. Ltd. 431.11 5 Amrapali Silicon City Pvt. Ltd. 391.57 6
Amrapali Leisure Valley Dev. Pvt. 237.53 Ltd.
The diversion of huge amount has been rightly detected on Forensic Audit.
144. Learned senior counsel appearing on behalf of Amrapali Group also submitted that the under-valued
transactions have been found of INR 321.31 crores which is incorrect. The Forensic Auditors have given the
details in their report along with reasons, we agree with them and have no hesitation to reject the submission.
145. As to other amounts with respect to advances which are recoverable, the explanation that there is a
surrender of shares by Mr. Shiv Priya, etc. is not supported by books of accounts. There is no basis to contend
so. No proper explanation has been given on behalf of Amrapali Group. Shares were purchased by Mr. Anil
Kumar Sharma in his own name. It was clearly an advance. It was not purchased in the name of the company
but in the individual's name. There was cash in hand and other recoverable also, no proper explanation has
been offered. Cash in hand has to be deposited back as it belongs to home buyers. The finding as to the
diversion of home buyers' funds is based on the figures worked on the basis of minute accounting as reflected
in the auditors' report. There is no proper answer to each and every entry which have been gone into by the
Auditors. General and broad submissions have been made which are flimsy and have no legs to stand. Thus,
the objections are rejected. The professional fee could not have been realised by the Directors. They were not
the employees. They have not rendered any professional services. They along with other employees, statutory
auditors, CFO, etc. have formed a cartel to defraud the home buyers for siphoning off their money. Dummy
companies were created in the names of peons, boys of office, the relation of statutory auditor, CFO, etc. and
several companies were created only for the purpose of few transactions. The fact discloses how the fraud has
been perpetrated upon the home buyers which defies description which could not have been unearthed except
by skilful exercise done by the Forensic Auditors. Thus, we have no word to specify the extent of fraud played.
Least said is better as to the entire gamut of the facts and entire scenario of the case.
146. It is apparent from the report of the forensic audit submitted by Forensic Auditors that there is a serious
kind of fraud played upon the buyers in active connivance with the officials of the Noida and Greater Noida
Authorities and that of the banks. The money of the home buyers has been diverted. The Directors diverted the
money by the creation of dummy companies, realizing professional fees, creating bogus bills, selling flats at
undervalue price, payment of excessive brokerage, etc. They have obtained investment from J.P. Morgan in
violation of FEMA and FDI norms. The shares were overvalued for making payment to J.P. Morgan. It was
adopted as a device for siphoning off the money of the home buyers to foreign countries. In view of the huge
money collected from the buyers and comparable investments made in the projects, there was no necessity to
obtain a loan from banks. The amount so obtained was not used in the projects. The mortgage deeds in favour
of the banks were not permissible due to non-payment of dues of the Noida and Greater Noida Authorities. The
Noida and Greater Noida Authorities issued conditional NOCs. to create mortgages subject to payment of dues
which were not paid. They issued such NOCs in collusion with builders. It was incumbent upon the bankers
also to obtain clear unconditional NOCs. which were not obtained and to ensure that the dues were paid to
Noida and Greater Noida authorities. They permitted diversion of money immediately after sanctioning of the
loan and also in day to day transactions of Amrapali group of companies.
147. No accounts were prepared w.e.f. the years 2015-2018 and money withdrawn was diverted during the said
period. The Statutory Auditor, Mr.Mittal failed in duty and was part of fraudulent activities as found in the
Forensic Report. The money obtained from banks was diverted to unapproved uses such as for the creation of
personal assets of Directors, creation of assets in closely held companies by the Directors along with their
partners and relatives, for personal expenses of Directors, to give advances without carrying interest for several
years. There was total non- monitoring by the bankers. The money laundering was resorted to by Amrapali
Group/ Directors. The Noida and Greater Noida Authorities were grossly negligent in reviewing and
monitoring the progress of the projects and in collusion with leaseholders failed to take action concerning non-
payment of dues and illegally permitted the group to sub-lease the land without payment of dues. Bogus
allotments of flats were made. There were other irregularities galore.
148. Because of their failure to fulfil the obligations towards the buyers and the serious kind of fraud which
has been played by them upon the home buyers, the registration of Amrapali group of companies under the
Real Estate Regulation and Development Act, 2016 deserves to be cancelled.
149. Because of the gross violations of the conditions of lease deeds executed by the Noida and Greater Noida
Authorities in favour of Amrapali group of companies with respect to various projects, are liable to be
cancelled and the rights thereupon shall vest in the Court Receiver.
150. There was no valid mortgage created in favour of Banks and there was a huge diversion of money paid by
homebuyers which were more than required for payment of dues of the Noida/ Greater Noida Authorities and
banks. The buyers have paid the dues of Noida and Greater Noida authorities as a component of the price for
flats. Thus, the premium and other dues payable under the lease deeds to the Noida and Greater Noida
Authorities, cannot be recovered from the home buyers or the projects in question. The dues as may be ordered
shall be recovered by sale of other properties which have been created by the diversion of funds and have been
attached by this Court. The banks have also failed to ensure that the money was used in the projects. As found
in the forensic audit, there was no necessity of obtaining loans from the banks and it has not been used for the
purpose it was obtained. The Authorities and Bankers have violated the doctrine of public trust and their
officials, unfortunately, acted in collusion with builders. The dues of the banks are also to be recovered from
the other attached properties as observed by us.
151. The criminal cases have also been registered by the police, we propose to monitor the progress of the
investigation. For violations of FEMA and FDI norms, we direct the Enforcement Directorate to
make investigation in accordance with the law and submit reports quarterly to this Court. Money laundering
aspect is also to be looked into by concerned authorities.
152. It has been found in the Forensic Audit Report that there are several recoverable from various companies
as well as from individuals, Directors and other incumbents. We direct that as per the findings recorded by the
Forensic Auditors, the money be deposited in this Court on a time-bound basis and other needful be done as
observed by the Auditors. As we have approved the report, let the concerned companies/ Directors/ individuals
take steps in compliance with the observations and findings made by Auditors to refund the amount and or to
do needful as suggested within one month.
153. We have also found that non-payment of dues of the Noida and Greater Noida Authorities and the banks
cannot come in the way of occupation of flats by home buyers as money of home buyers has been diverted due
to the inaction of Officials of Noida/ Greater Noida Authorities. They cannot sell the buildings or demolish
them nor can enforce the charge against homebuyers/ leased land/ projects in the facts of the case. Similarly,
the banks cannot recover money from projects as it has not been invested in projects. Homebuyers money has
been diverted fraudulently, thus, fraud cannot be perpetuated against them by selling the flats and depriving
them of hard-earned money and savings of entire life. They cannot be cheated once over again by sale of the
projects raised by their funds. The Noida and Greater Noida Authorities have to issue the Completion/ Part
Completion Certificate, as the case may be, to execute tripartite agreement and registered deeds in favour of
the buyers on part- completion or completion of the buildings, as the case may be or where the inhabitants are
residing, within a period of one month.
(i) The registration of Amrapali Group of Companies under RERA shall stand cancelled;
(ii) The various lease deeds granted in favour of Amrapali Group of Companies by Noida and Greater Noida
Authorities for projects in question stand cancelled and rights henceforth, to vest in Court Receiver;
(iii) We hold that Noida and Greater Noida Authorities shall have no right to sell the flats of the home buyers
or the land leased out for the realization of their dues. Their dues shall have to be recovered from the sale of
other properties which have been attached. The direction holds good for the recovery of the dues of the various
Banks also.
(iv) We have appointed the NBCC to complete the various projects and hand over the possession to the buyers.
The percentage of commission of NBCC is fixed at 8 percent.
(v) The home buyers are directed to deposit the outstanding amount under the Agreement entered with the
promoters within 3 months from today in the Bank account opened in UCO Bank in the Branch of this Court.
The amount deposited by them shall be invested in the fixed deposit to be disbursed under the order of this
Court on phase-wise completion of the projects/work by the NBCC.
(vi) In view of the finding recorded by the Forensic Auditors and fraud unearthed, indicating prima facie
violation of the FEMA and other fraudulent activities, money laundering, we direct Enforcement Directorate
and concerned authorities to investigate and fix liability on persons responsible for such violation and submit
the progress report in the Court and let the police also submit the report of the investigation made by them so
far.
(vii) We direct the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India to initiate the appropriate disciplinary action
against Mr. Anil Mittal, CA for his conduct as reflected in various transactions and the findings recorded in the
order and his overall conduct as found on Forensic Audit. Let appropriate proceedings are initiated and
concluded as early as possible within 6 months and a report of action taken to be submitted to this Court.
(viii) We direct various Companies/ Directors and other incumbents in whose hands money of the home buyers
is available as per the report of Forensic Auditors, to deposit the same in the Court within one month from
today and to do the needful in the manner as observed. The last opportunity of one month is granted to deposit
the amount and to do the needful failing which appropriate action shall be taken against them.
(ix) Concerned Ministry of Central Government, as well as the State Government and the Secretary of Housing
and Urban Development, are directed to ensure that appropriate action is taken as against leaseholders
concerning such similar projects at Noida and Greater Noida and other places in various States, where projects
have not been completed. They are further directed to ensure that projects are completed in a time-bound
manner as contemplated in RERA and home buyers are not defrauded.
(x) We appoint Shri R. Venkataramani, learned Senior Advocate, as the Court Receiver. The right of the lessee
shall vest in the Court Receiver and he shall execute through authorized person on his behalf, the tripartite
agreement and do all other acts as may be necessary and also to ensure that title is passed on to home buyers
and possession is handed over to them.
(xi) We also direct Noida and Greater Noida Authorities to execute the tripartite agreement within one month
concerning the projects where homebuyers are residing and issue completion certificate notwithstanding that
the dues are to be recovered under this order by the sale of the other attached properties. Registered
conveyance deed shall also be executed in favour of homebuyers, they are to be placed in the possession and
they shall continue to do so in future on completion of projects or in part as the case may be. We direct the
Noida and Greater Noida Authorities to take appropriate action to do the needful in the matter. The Water
Works Department of the concerned area and the Electricity Supplier are directed to provide the connections
for water and electricity to home buyers forthwith.
155. Let the cases be listed for further hearing before us on 9.8.2019.
………………….…..J.
New Delhi