Realty Blues: Unitech and DSK

Sucheta Dalal 13 November 2017

Consumer Interest

The case of Sanjay Chandra, promoter of the Unitech group, once the leading realty developer of Gurugram, is going the way of Subrata Roy of the Sahara group. On 30th October, a three-member bench of the SC, headed by the chief justice, denied him interim bail and ordered that he will remain in custody until the firm deposits Rs750 crore for bail by December. Like with Subrata Roy, the Court has allowed him the use of video conferencing facilities and daily meetings with his lawyers, if required, in jail to negotiate a possible sale of his assets to meet the interim bail condition. This once high-flying group has to refund over Rs2,000 crore to hapless home-buyers, who have been running from pillar to post for several years. Unitech failed to deliver around 17,000 flats after collecting over Rs7,800 crore as advance payment.

Meanwhile, the Pune police have, finally, registered a first information report (FIR) against the smooth-talking Deepak Kulkarni, promoter of DSK Developers Limited (DSKDL), on 29th October. For nearly a year, Mr Kulkarni and his wife have been spinning yarns to depositors and home-buyers crowding his office about repaying them or delivering on apartments long overdue. During this time, information about diversion of funds, mortgaging the same land with multiple lenders, raising public deposits through dummy companies, without regulatory clearances, etc, was ferreted out by social activist Vijay Kumbhar working with DSKDL’s victims.

Mr Kulkarni’s line to investors was simple: all businesses face rough times and having him locked up only guarantees that they never receive their money. This is, indeed, true in the Indian context, where businesses are killed by ham-handed police action, and whatever survives is lost in expensive litigation that drags on for decades. Interestingly, while the Pune police have registered an FIR, there is no move to arrest Mr Kulkarni, as has happened with other developers. Apparently, the police are also sold on his arguments, but it remains to be seen if home-buyers and depositors get their money back. At last count, 8,000 depositors were agitating to get back just under Rs500 crore invested with DSKDL.

Comments

User

Leslie Menezes

9 years ago

The Police is buttering their bread on both sides. I learnt of a case of builder under arrest was taken daily to his home in police vans from jail. The wife used to distribute cash outside court to the constables and others involved in case.

subal chandra saha

9 years ago

It is not any kind of genuine business misfortune.