Supreme Court Halts Coercive Action Against Lotus Greens In Noida Project Irregularities Case

The Supreme Court has ordered no coercive action against builder Lotus Greens in a case of irregularities over its Noida real estate project. A bench Justices M M Sundresh and Rajesh Bindal issued notice to the UP government and others on a plea filed by the developer. "Issue notice. In the meantime, the proceedings shall go on, but no coercive steps shall be taken," the bench said on March 7.

The top court's order came after Lotus Green Constructions challenged an order of the Allahabad High Court.

On Feb. 24, the high court ordered a CBI probe into the matter concerning the developer's Sports City project, citing violations in its execution.

The high court directed the CBI to lodge a complaint against all the 'conniving officials' of the Noida authority and the allottees or builders involved in the allotment, development, sanction of the project and any other person who might be involved.

The Noida authority was further directed to issue notices to all stakeholders within a week, demanding full payment of outstanding dues, including interest and penalties.

"In case the allotments are cancelled, Noida authority can call for the fresh bids as per the current market rate, which will certainly be far much higher than the allotted rate. This direction is issued keeping in view the fact that the CAG had pointed out that Noida had suffered a loss of 9,000 crore, in which incorrect pricing was one of the main factors," the high court order said.

Reacting to the apex court order, a spokesperson for Lotus Greens said, "The company has full faith in the honourable apex court. We are hopeful that the apex court's intervention would deliver much-awaited justice to the consortium partners and their home buyers." The Sports City project in Noida's Sector 150 was launched in June 2014, covering 12 lakh squaremeter.

It was designed with 70% land allocation for sports facilities and open areas whereas 30% was reserved for group housing and commercial purposes.

Lotus Greens, a leading a consortium of developers, secured the project in September 2014 through a technical and financial bidding process.