NOIDA: Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA) narrowly escaped being issued contempt notices after it stopped short of handing out land cancellation orders to Supertech and Sunworld over mounting dues, unaware of high court stays on any coercive action against the two developers.
The Authority is now planning a departmental inquiry against its legal officer and officials of the group housing department for providing misleading information regarding the high court cases involving Supertech and Sunworld.
At a YEIDA board meeting on June 26, the housing department placed a proposal to partially cancel land allotments for the two realtors in Sector 22D off the Yamuna Expressway.
The department claimed the Authority could go ahead with the cancellation notices as there were no legal disputes — and none from the legal team raised any red flag. The board, subsequently, approved the proposal, keeping in mind the interest of homebuyers.
So, the Authority decided to take back land where residential projects had not been initiated. After the realtors came to know that the Authority was planning action against them, their representatives apprised officials of the high court stays.
Arun Vir Singh, the YEIDA CEO, said he consulted the legal team, which advised him against issuing the land cancellation notices.
“Although cases were pending at the Allahabad high court, a proposal was put forth at the board meeting to partially cancel the land allotments of Supertech and Sunworld. This was based on incorrect facts. The negligence lies with the legal and housing department. It is a serious matter, which warrants departmental action against officials concerned,” Singh said on Tuesday.
Supertech has filed two lawsuits in the high court. The first — filed in 2021 — challenged a letter issued by YEIDA against mounting dues and sought waivers under a zero period.
The second petition submitted a year later contested the amount Supertech needed to pay for additional compensation to farmers.
It also appealed to the govt to accept its application seeking a revision of the amount.
The high court has asked YEIDA not to take any coercive action against the company until a decision was made. Sunworld, too, filed a case against YEIDA in 2020, seeking recalculation of dues and alleging that the Authority allotted it only 67% of the promised land, that too in patches.
“Although the board had approved the decision to cancel land allotments, YEIDA did not issue any notice. Had it come out with an order, it could have led to contempt proceedings against the Authority,” an official said.
Supertech Township and Sunworld Infrastructure were allotted 100 acres each in Sector 22D in 2011. While Supertech owes Rs 677 crore to the Authority, Sunworld needs to pay Rs 816 crore.
Both companies have not accepted the state govt’s rehabilitation package for stalled projects despite numerous reminders. Had they done so, Supertech and Sunworld would have got relief of Rs 128 crore and Rs 156 crore, respectively.
Currently, both projects are incomplete, which has affected approximately 3,200 homebuyers in Supertech and around 1,400 in Sunworld.
