"Playing Hide And Seek": Top Court Orders Arrest Of 3 Amrapali Directors

Three directors of real estate company Amrapali were sent to three-day police custody on Tuesday by the Supreme Court for not submitting documents for audit. The officers have been directed to hand over documents of the 46 companies of the group to forensic auditors.

"You are playing hide and seek. You are trying to mislead the court," the Supreme Court said, ordering that Amrapali group directors Anil Kumar Sharma, Shiv Priya and Ajay Kumar remain in custody until they did hand over the documents.

Judges Arun Mishra and UU Lalit said, "You are playing with the dignity of this court. You are not complying with this court's earlier orders as far as the forensic audits are concerned. Why the documents related to forensic audits have not been submitted to the auditors yet? You are deliberately attempting not to comply with the court's orders."

The Supreme Court had, in its hearing last month, asked for a list of debt-free assets of the company's directors. It had also ordered a forensic audit of the real estate firm and its promoters to gauge the extent of financial wrongdoings.

The top court asked the police in Delhi, Noida and Greater Noida to coordinate and take the three directors into custody so all documents can be seized and handed over to auditors.

Amrapali Group has failed to hand over flats to around 42,000 homebuyers. The property developer has been facing the wrath of the Supreme Court since homebuyers petitioned it after not receiving their flats on time.

The court had earlier allowed National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) to start the process of selecting a builder to complete the stalled projects.

The group chairman and managing director had come under court scrutiny after he declared a wealth of Rs 67 crore -- against Rs 847 crore in his affidavit filed during the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, when he had unsuccessfully contested as a Janata Dal (United) candidate from Bihar's Jehanabad constituency.

The next hearing is on October 24.