Yeida revokes cancellation of allotment of Supertech, Sunworld group projects

Yeida said action will be taken against its legal officer and officials of the law department who provided wrong facts about Supertech and Sunworld allotments

The Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (Yeida) did an about face on July 2 and said it has decided not to cancel the land allotments made to realtors Supertech and Sunworld Groups in Sector 22D in 2011 for constructing group housing projects.

Supertech Township and Sunworld Infrastructure were each allotted 100 acres in Sector 22D in 2011. Supertech Township owes ₹677 crore to Yeida, while Sunworld owes the authority ₹816 crore. (HT Archive)

The Yeida board cancelled the allotments last week after the two realtors failed to pay their land cost dues. Yeida chief executive officer Arun Vir Singh said the cancellation was revoked after they realised that the cancellation was approved based “on wrong recommendations that came from the law department”.

“We have decided not to cancel the allotment of these two realtors because their cases are pending in the Allahabad high court. We have also decided to act against officials in the law department who proposed the action against the realtors. The law officers did not place the fact before the board that cases pertaining to these two developers are being heard by the Allahabad high court,” said Arun Vir Singh, chief executive officer, Yeida.

Yeida said action will be taken against its legal officer and officials of the law department who provided wrong facts about the Supertech and Sunworld allotments.

“Even though the case were pending in the high court, a proposal was put forward in the board meeting based on wrong facts to cancel the allotment of Supertech Township and Sunworld Infrastructure. This negligence lies with the law department. In view of the facts, a probe will be initiated, and action will be taken against the responsible officials and employees,” said Singh.

During the board meeting on June 26, the authority approved the partial cancellation of land allotted to Supertech Township and Sunworld Infrastructure in Sector 22D, excluding the areas where residential projects have already been sold to homebuyers.

The developers' take

The developers informed the authority about the high court orders preventing any coercive action against them. Singh sought an opinion on this from the authority’s legal team, which confirmed that the developers’ claims were valid.

As per the legal report submitted to Yeida CEO, Supertech filed two petitions before the Allahabad high court. The first, filed in 2021, challenged the authority’s demand letter of dues issued in March 2021, seeking the benefit of a zero period. This case is still pending.

The second petition, filed in 2022, sought the disposal of its revision application pending before the state government, challenging the quantification of additional compensation.

In September 2022, the high court directed that the revisional authority decide on the application within six weeks, deferring recovery until a decision was made.This decision is still pending.

The legal team recommended that initiating cancellation of the lease deed or recovery of dues is not advisable at this time.

The CEO noted that there was also a stay order against any coercive action against Sunworld Infrastructure.

About the projects

Supertech Township and Sunworld Infrastructure were each allotted 100 acres in Sector 22D in 2011. Supertech Township owes ₹677 crore to Yeida, while Sunworld owes the authority ₹816 crore.

Both builders have not accepted the state government’s rehabilitation package for stalled legacy projects despite repeated notices and have failed to clear their dues.

Acceptance of the state government’s relief package would have provided Supertech a relief of ₹128 crore and Sunworld a relief of ₹156 crore.

Currently, both projects are incomplete, affecting approximately 3,200 homebuyers in Supertech Township and around 1,400 homebuyers in the Sunworld project.

Supertech Group spokesperson said, “We have informed the Yeida that the Allahabad high court has restrained authority against taking coercive action in this case.”

Sunworld Group spokesperson said, “Our case is pending in the Allahabad high court for a final decision.”