The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was ordered by the Supreme Court on Tuesday to launch seven preliminary investigations into the purported “unholy” relationship between banks and real estate developers in Delhi and the National Capital Region.
The court order came as a bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh was considering a number of appeals from homebuyers who had reserved apartments in the NCR region—particularly in Noida, Greater Noida, and Gurugram—under subvention schemes. The homebuyers claimed that banks were forcing them to make EMI payments even though they had not yet received their homes.
The court-ordered initial CBI investigation will concentrate on Supertech Limited, a well-known developer already being investigated for a number of infractions. Beyond Delhi, the second investigation will look into projects completed by other builders in the nearby cities of Noida, Greater Noida, Gurugram, Ghaziabad, and Yamuna Expressway.
The highest court noted that a number of banks and builders had “taken poor homebuyers to ransom” and claimed that this was causing a great deal of difficulty. “Homebuyers are made to cry,” a unanimous Supreme Court panel observed. The bench declared that an independent probe was necessary to “unearth the truth” and called the current state of affairs intolerable. The court order comes after the CBI itself suggested that preliminary investigations were necessary to ascertain the builders’ intent and strategy in conjunction with financial institutions.
Additionally, the Directors General of Police in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana have been instructed by the Supreme Court to create a shortlist of officials who will be assigned to support the CBI. The agency will form a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of subject-matter specialists, a few state police officers, and its own officials. To support the probe, organizations like the Reserve Bank of India and pertinent development authorities will also select nodal officers.
