The location near the national capital Delhi, one of the most significant industrial hubs, Noida, has recently witnessed intensive real estate disputes. Following the massive demolition of the Twin Towers and Amrapali insolvency proceedings, the NCLT has yet to declare Ajnara Builder insolvent.
The National Company Law Tribunal(NCLT‘s) Delhi’s bench has begun insolvency proceedings against Ajnara India Ltd, a Noida-based real estate developer, in response to a petition filed by 128 homebuyers who were engaged in the builder’s project named Ajnara Ambrosia.
IRP Amarpal has now been chosen by the court to begin the proceedings.
The NCLT ruling states that allottees(homebuyers) were requesting to begin CIRP against the developer Ajnara builders for the default made against the debt that applicants had paid in lieu of the project units they had acquired.
What’s in the petition that dragged the builder into insolvency?
In 2021, 113 Ajnara Ambrosia homebuyers attempted to approach the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT). Ajnara India Ltd. received a notice from the NCLT bench of Delhi in April 2021, which the developer responded to in October 2021 and raised specific objections.
The real estate firm’s objections noted that the current petition was time-barred and not maintainable. Additionally, there was simply a sale and purchase; no money was borrowed; hence the petitioner does not qualify as a financial creditor.
The NCLT, however, rejected it and stated that because the petitioners, in this instance, are the financial creditors, the objection to it could not be sustained. The bench has now formally acknowledged the petition and appointed an expert in interim resolution.
The petition says that the respondent (developer), who had received advance payments, had accrued a total financial debt of Rs 50,47,48,426/- from the applicants alone but had breached its promises and defaulted on the project’s development. The builder failed to transfer possession of the houses as per the project deadline.
What does the law say?
The ruling from September 20 said that “the current Application is accepted in terms of Section 7(5) of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code 2016 and “the moratorium is announced in accordance with Section 14 of the Code”.
According to current legal interpretation, the builder cannot be the subject of any legal action during the 180-day moratorium period from the date of the order.
The action as of now.
In order to cover the immediate expenditures, NCLT appointed IRP and ordered the developer to pay Rs 2 lakh.
Details of the respondent- Ajnara Group
The organization was founded in 1991. Ashok Gupta, a co-founder and managing director of the Ajnara company, is its director. Ajnara India has six active projects, two of which have earned completion certifications, according to UP-RERA statistics. There are two active projects at the affiliated firm Ajnara Realtech.
Details of Project- Ajnara Ambrosia Housing Project
Ajnara Ambrosia is a group housing residential project that was supposed to be built on 1,42,967 sq m of land in Noida’s Sector 118. The project, which claimed to have its ambience as per Spanish lifestyle, was co-sponsored by Ajnara India.
In 2014, the developer began construction on the residential complex, which has an architectural layout of 14 towers that are supposed to be built in phases.
The project captured a lot of attention due to its location on the Faridabad-Noida-Ghaziabad Expressway. The project is planned to get completed by December 2019. Everything was going on track, but in 2017, work on the project was put on pause.
What initiated the homebuyers to move in favour of the petition?
For the purpose of constructing a group housing project, the builder had agreements with businesses and people who owned and controlled land totalling around 1,42,967 sq m at plot number GH01, Sector 118, Gautam Budh Nagar, Noida.
According to the Builder Buyer Agreement, the builder was required to provide 1,600 apartments within three years of the agreement’s signing. The first phase’s apartments have already been delivered to certain purchasers.
While over 90% of the 1,100 customers have already paid, the majority are still waiting for their houses, and this stage triggered the homebuyers to move towards NCLT.
The ongoing allegations against the group
- Additionally, according to the UP-RERA’s website, Ajnara India Ltd. is the subject of 308 complaints, while Ajnara Realtech Ltd. is a target of 150. Ajnara Ambrosia alone has received almost 99 complaints.
- Ajnara Realtech and M/s Sequel Buildcon Pvt Ltd., a sister company of Ajnara Group, are the subjects of an ongoing insolvency application under section 7 IBC.
The lawyer in person
In all of these cases against Ajnara Group, the homebuyers group is represented by advocate (IP) Bharat Bhushan Sethi, who practices in the Delhi High Court.
Are there upcoming darker days for the Ajnara group?
1. At Ek Murti Circle in Greater Noida West on the morning of June 26, 2022, more than 100 upset residents of Ajnara Le Garden and Ajnara Homes staged a protest against the Ajnara group. They shouted anti-RERA, anti-authority, and anti-administration chants.
Residents complain that there are numerous maintenance difficulties and that the builder is doing nothing to address them. Among the primary problems the residents are dealing with are waterlogging in the basement, inadequate security, and an increase in maintenance costs. They said that after their 85 days of protesting, nothing had changed.
“The builder has taken crores of rupees from the residents in the guise of convenience, but where are all the facilities,” An anonymous resident says.
2. The Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority, in April 2022, revoked the land allocation for the Ajnara Panorama housing project, owing to unpaid debts of Rs 46.8 crore.
Yamuna Authority granted Ajna Builder 25 acres of land in Sector-22A in 2010. The builder registered the site in 2011 and gave the project the name Ajnara Panorama. The authorities had approved the builder’s 3266 plot map, of which 695 plates have so far received a partial completion certificate.
According to officials, the builder is not depositing the balance. The builder postponed the payments in 2017, leading to the issuance of a notice for Rs. 1.04 crore. The builder then only made a deposit of Rs. 54 lakh. Another notice to deposit Rs. 4.63 crores was issued in October 2017, but the builder failed to do so.
Similarly, Ajnara scheduled a second time in 2019, although no money has been put in yet. According to Yamuna Authority authorities, the builder has received a deposit of Rs. 46.87 crore for this project, but there is still an outstanding balance of Rs. 42.82 crore. As per officials, the money that the builder had deposited has been confiscated.
Other Noida builders under the umbrella of insolvency
Homebuyers who paid significant sums for properties they never received are suing a number of Noida-based developers in bankruptcy courts. Some of the builders against whose insolvency procedures have been commenced are Jaypee Infratech, Supertech, Logix, Mascot Soho Homes, and La Residentia Developers.
According to recent modifications to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016, an application to initiate insolvency proceedings against a property developer must be submitted by at least 10% of the project’s total purchasers, or 100 purchasers, whichever is lower.
The till now apparent opinion in case of Insolvency of builders
The primary cause of the growth in corruption is the courts. As the adage goes, “justice delayed is justice denied,” the courts spend years debating matters before rendering an imprudent decision, and unfortunately, there is a wait for a decade, and the builder enjoys the laws of India.
Let’s see what happens in the fate of the Ajnara group.
Edited by Prakriti Arora
