NOIDA: The Allahabad high court has asked Noida Authority to proceed with flat registrations at Meghdutam housing project in Sector 50, offering relief to many residents who have waited years for property documents despite making full payments.
A division bench of Justices Manoj Kumar Gupta and Anish Kumar Gupta issued the interim order on Jan 15, responding to a petition filed by 19 residents. The court instructed the Authority to execute the registries based on an occupancy certificate issued a decade ago. It also asked the Authority to simultaneously pursue the recovery of dues from TGB Infra Developers, the builder.
The bench criticised the Authority’s lack of concrete action in recovering the outstanding amount from the company. It noted that Anil Kumar Saha — one of the directors at TGB Infra — held the post in 39 other active real estate companies, which provided the Authority with ample avenues for the recovery of dues.
While Saha is in jail, two other directors are untraceable. Saha’s counsel told the court that his client was not in a position to pay the amount.
The court then observed, “We issue an interim mandamus directing the Noida Authority to execute tripartite sub-leases in favour of the petitioners, who have admittedly paid the entire amount and are occupying their flats based on the Authority-granted occupancy certificate.”
It then scheduled the next hearing for Feb 6.
The Meghdutam project, comprising 173 units across 12,750sqm, was allotted to TGB Infra in 2008. According to Authority’s records, its outstanding dues stood at Rs 55.3 crore initially, but were reduced to Rs 43.7 crore after the two-year zero waiver under the state govt’s rehabilitation package. But the developer did not opt for the policy.
The Authority said the developer needed to pay 25% (Rs 10.9 crore) of the recalculated dues as advance to be eligible for the registry process. TGB is yet to pay this amount.
AOA president Kanwar Lal Sipani, one of the petitioners, said the list of eligible homebuyers would be finalised at the next hearing. “We will then coordinate with the Authority for the execution of registries,” he added.
In court, the petitioners cited UP govt’s policy for stalled projects, based on recommendations of the Amitabh Kant committee, which mandates an expedited registration process. They also referred to Supreme Court judgments from the Amrapali and Lotus 300 cases, in which it prioritised homebuyers’ rights in stalled projects.
The residents also argued that since they received occupancy certificates in Oct 2015 and paid the full amount, the Authority had no legal basis to withhold the tripartite agreements because of the developer’s outstanding dues.
The Authority had previously issued multiple notices to TGB Infra between May and Aug last year, threatening to cancel allotment of land. In May 2024, it displayed a notice regarding unpaid dues at the project’s entrance. In Oct, it warned the developer about referring its case to the Economic Offences Wing if the dues remained unpaid.
Source Homevior.in
