‘Supertech and the 8 banks…’: SC orders CBI probe into builder-bank nexus in Delhi-NCR | 10 things to know | Mint

India’s apex legal body, the Supreme Court of India, on Tuesday, April 29, directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate the nexus between Delhi’s Supertech, a real estate developer, and eight other banks, over not completing projects on time and forcing people to pay EMIs, reported the news agency PTI. 

According to the media report, the developers and the banks formed an “unholy nexus” in order to deceive the homebuyers.

“Underlying nexus between Supertech and the 8 banks deserves to be investigated in priority,” said the Supreme Court, according to the agency report.

Here are 10 things to know

1. Special Investigation Team: A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh noted the affidavit that the CBI filed to build a special investigation team to launch a probe and inquiry into Supertech Limited’s projects in Delhi NCR. 

2. Homebuyers Affected: The Supreme Court earlier said that thousands of homebuyers were affected by this scheme, where banks paid 60 to 70 per cent of the home loan amount to the builders without the projects being completed within the set time.

The company has nearly 800 aggrieved homebuyers, as per the agency report.

3. CBI’s plan to unravel nexus: The issue with the homebuyers prompted the court to order the CBI to come up with a plan to disrupt the “builder-banks nexus”, which fooled thousands of homebuyers in the Delhi NCR region.

They also assured people that the investigation will go into the root of the matter of concern in the case.

4. Flat bookings under the subvention plans: The Supreme Court was hearing petitions filed by multiple homebuyers who have put their money into various housing projects in Delhi NCR, especially in the Noida, Greater Noida, and Gurugram regions.

According to the media report, the homebuyers were allegedly forced by the banks to pay the EMI amount for the home loan without possessing the loaned flat. 

5. Investigation Status: As per the reports, the Supreme Court bench will monitor the status of the investigation of the special unit on a monthly basis.

6. How does the subvention scheme work: The subvention scheme works when the banks disburse the sanctioned amount directly to the accounts of builders, in this case, Supertech. However, during this period the builder is required to pay EMIs on the sanctioned loan amount until the flats are handed out to the new owners.

7: EMI defaults: After the builders started to default on their loan payments, the banks were looking towards the homebuyers and demanding the EMI from them, as per the tripartite agreement, as cited in the news portal.

8. Number of projects affected: Supertech reportedly had 21 projects in six cities as per the agreement with the 19 banks, which affected the 800 homebuyers.

9. Loan amount: As per the agency report, the Supertech has secured a loan amount of ₹5,157.86 crore since 1998.

10. Total number of Petitions: The total number of petitioners was 1,200 homebuyers who appealed to the Supreme Court.