NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday asked Jaiprakash Associates Ltd (JAL) to deposit an additional Rs 100 crore in court by May 10 after being informed that Rs 100 crore had been paid, taking its total deposit to Rs 650 crore, which will be used to refund homebuyers left in the lurch by delayed housing projects.JAL’s counsel Anupam Lal Das sought permission from the SC for two directors of the company — Pankaj Gaur and Sunny Gaur — to travel abroad. A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud permitted the directors to go abroad but put in a caveat, “If the amount of Rs 100 crore is not deposited by May 10, steps will be taken to attach personal properties of those directors.”Das contested the selection of bidder to complete the projects by the Committee of Creditors and the Interim Resolution Professional (IRP), who have taken over the assets of Jaypee Infrastructure after insolvency and bankruptcy proceedings were brought against it before NCLT, Allahabad, by a consortium of banks led by IDBI Bank. He said the finalised bidder protected the interests of financial institutions rather than homebuyers.Das said JAL had proposed to finish the housing projects in three years as against the bidder’s proposal to do it in five and a half years. He accused the Committee of Creditors and the IRP of not considering JAL’s proposal.The SC asked senior advocate Parag Tripathi, appearing for the IRP, to consider JAL’s proposal in accordance with law despite Tripathi clarifying that JAL’s proposal was statutorily barred from being considered. The court also said the IRP would be at liberty to finalise the resolution plan for Jaypee Infratech while reiterating that the final resolution plan would be vetted by the SC.The bench asked amicus curiae Pawan Shree Agrawal to complete the project-wise chart of homebuyers and identify those who want houses and those who prefer refund by May 11. Agrawal had informed the court on March 21 that 2,800 homebuyers had registered on the portal created on the SC’s order and sought refund. He had said Rs 1,300 crore would be needed to refund only the principal amount to homebuyers.Appearing for around 2,500 homebuyers registered with nine associations, senior advocate Jayant Bhushan said under RERA, the resolution proposal needed approval from two-thirds of homebuyers.

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