Summary
In the Amrapali homebuyers' writ petition, the Court had earlier directed the Noida and Greater Noida Authorities to charge reduced, simple interest on outstanding lease premium. That relief was extended to builders other than Amrapali, on an application by the Ace Group. The Authorities applied for recall. The Supreme Court allowed it. The proceedings concerned only the peculiar position of Amrapali flat buyers. The Authorities had been given no adequate notice, and the Court did not know the impact of several thousand crores. Builders had accepted the contractual interest rate knowingly and passed it into flat prices. The objection that only review lay was held technical. The three orders were recalled as regards other builders, whose dues are to be recomputed taking the State Government's own reduction into account.
Issues
- Whether the orders reducing the interest chargeable by the Noida and Greater Noida Authorities should be recalled in so far as they extended to builders other than the Amrapali Group.
- Whether the Authorities' remedy lay only in review and not in an application for recall.
Provisions considered
- Article 32, Constitution of IndiaThe writ petition of Amrapali flat buyers was concerned with the peculiar facts of those projects and was not a proceeding in which the contractual dues of all Noida and Greater Noida builders could be revised. (¶¶ 14, 16, 20)
Held
- The reduction of interest was considered in the context of the Amrapali projects, where the Court had vested rights in the Court Receiver and appointed NBCC to complete construction; no general petition on behalf of other builders was before the Court and the matter's scope did not extend to their case. (¶¶ 14, 15, 16)
- The Authorities filed no reply to the other builders' application and the Court was unaware both of the State Government's general reduction of interest issued the day before its order and of the financial impact running into thousands of crores. (¶¶ 15, 16, 17)
- Every builder took its plot on the basis of a brochure, allotment letter and lease deed disclosing the interest rate, entered into the transaction with open eyes, and the cost was subsumed in the flat price; since courts ordinarily refrain from interfering with contractual terms, the benefit could not be extended to all builders in a matter with which the Court was not concerned. (¶¶ 18, 19, 20, 21)
- The objection that the Authorities could seek only review was purely technical, as a different matter had been dealt with by the Amrapali Bench without adequate notice to the Authorities or knowledge of the impact; the Court erred in granting relief to projects other than Amrapali. (¶¶ 22, 23)
Result
Applications of the Noida and Greater Noida Authorities allowed; orders dated 10.06.2020, 19.08.2020 and 25.08.2020 recalled as regards builders other than the Amrapali Group; the Authorities to calculate the dues of such builders after taking into account the State Government's order dated 09.06.2020.