Buyers heave sigh of relief after NCLT decision on Sikka Group

Noida: In a major relief to homebuyers, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has quashed the insolvency proceedings against the NCR realty firm Sikka Group stating that no order was ever passed against the group and all other companies and projects except Sikka Karnam Greens under the Sikka Group remain untouched and unaffected by the issue.

As per reports, a case of recovery was filed by a homebuyer of Sikka Karnam Greens in sector 143 of Noida against the group for a recovery of Rs 16 lakhs over a residential unit.

The judicial committee considered the matter that the group has already completed construction of phase-Iof its project which compromise of over 300 units and have also applied for the occupancy certificate.

The tribunal also set aside the orders regarding appointing a resolution professional to run the company, declaring a moratorium, freezing of accounts and other orders.

Harvinder Sikka, Managing Director (MD) of Sikka Group said, "We are really thankful to the court for making a decision which makes us believe in truth and true victory. We are making all efforts to deliver around 1600 residential units in our various ongoing projects across Noida by the end of this year. We would also like to assure the buyers of Sikka Karnam Greens that the development work of the project is underway while we are working hard to complete the Phase-2 & Phase-3 of the project. We have also applied for the Occupancy Certificate of the project with Noida Authority and we expect to receive it very soon."

Welcoming the decision, a Home buyer's association, Noida Extension Flat Owner's Welfare Association (NEFOWA), said that insolvency is not a solution to homebuyers problem while the government should intervene into the matter and come up with plan so that the stuck projects get completed.

"We welcome the decision which has been made in the favour of builder as the other side would not have benefited a buyer in any way. Every homebuyer wants possession over his house within the promised time. However, we want that the government should pass a budget to complete stuck projects so as to relieve lakhs of homebuyers who are being burdened with dual pressure of rent and EMIs," said Indrish Gupta, CO-founder, NEFOWA.

Meanwhile buyers of Sikka Group also seek hopes with the decision and said that the decision has brought them hopes as the company was able to settle issues.

"We are happy that the company's case has been quashed. All we are looking forward is the group to complete the construction and provide us possession over our homes. Also it's a learning for all of us as buyers that small issues should not be made that big which overshadows the need of others. The entire project should not be pulled for an individual's issue," said Harday Tiwari, a buyer of Sikka Group.

Further elaborating on the issue, Amit Raheja, CMD of Wealth Clinic, Noida Based real estate consultancy said that such individual cases creating problem for the entire project is becoming quite frequent now adays.

"It's good that NCLT has quashed few cases and the developer has been able to settle it but the project gets suffered for the entire duration causing problem to thousands of other buyers for no fault. Every one should be responsible enough to understand the repercussions of their individual actions" said Raheja.