News: HSIIDC to auction land to refund homebuyers hit by Manesar scam-17-08-2020
https://realty.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/industry/hsiidc-to-auction-land-to-refund-homebuyers-hit-by-manesar-scam/77583912
According to the affidavit, HSIIDC plans to reserve a portion of the licenced land for claimants and then put up the remaining part for auction. The price of the land will be determined through the auction.
GURUGRAM: The Haryana State Industry and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) has filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court about how it plans to refund homebuyers affected by the Manesar land scam.
The response came more than two years after the apex court had asked HSIIDC to verify the claims of buyers who had invested in projects there.
The affidavit was submitted in the apex court on August 14. Earlier in January this year, when HSIIDC had submitted in court the verified claims of the buyers, it had asked the development body to file a detailed report on its plans to either refund the homebuyers or give flats to those who wanted them. At least 3,000 buyers were impacted by the land scam.
According to the affidavit, HSIIDC plans to reserve a portion of the licenced land for claimants and then put up the remaining part for auction. The price of the land will be determined through the auction. “The reserved sites shall be given to the claimants at the discovered price,” the document says. So, buyers will have to bear the current price for claiming their land parcels.
For plots where construction has already started, the document states, “The site shall be auctioned, and a new developer shall be asked to develop and offer developed flats to claimants seeking possession at the discovered price.”
The land that is not licenced will be sold by HSIIDC for residential purposes. Seven developers had bought the disputed land in Manesar — DLF Express Greens, ABW Aditya Niketan, Anant Raj Madelia, Guru Nanak Infrastructure Developers Pvt Ltd, Unitech Ltd, Girnar Infrastructure Pvt Ltd and Kalinga Realtors Pvt Ltd.
Anurag Agarwal, the HSIIDC managing director, did not respond to queries sent to him by TOI. Badshapur MLA Rakesh Daultabad had tweeted a copy of the Supreme Court order and claimed to have pushed the corporation to submit the affidavit at the earliest. Repeated messages and calls to the MLA were unanswered.
Buyers, however, were not happy with the HSIIDC’s plans. They said if they were to pay according to the current market rate, their investment would be much more than what they had calculated while purchasing the property. Further, they said, the affidavit does not mention a specific timeline for the delivery of flats to those who want homes and not a refund of their investment.
“On one hand, we are yet to get any compensation. On the other, HSIIDC expects us to pay in keeping with the current market rate. We will end up paying three times the actual price,” said Naresh Jindal, a member of the Aditya Niketan Buyers’ Association. He added that the buyers’ association would file a counter affidavit in the apex court on Monday.
The Supreme Court had on March 12, 2018, given HSIIDC two months to verify the claims of the buyers. However, the development body could submit the claims almost two years later in January this year. The apex court had then sought to know how the HSIIDC planned to refund the homebuyers.
