The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), Mumbai bench on Thursday granted two weeks’ time to Thane Municipal Corporation to respond to a plea by homebuyers of Modella Textile Industries Ltd, subsidiary of Nirmal Lifestyle, seeking rejection of a plan approved by the Committee of Creditors (COC).
The homebuyers also sought the dismissal of a plea by the Resolution Professional (RP) for approval for COC-approved resolution. The homebuyers demanded that they shall be given flats on the basis of allotment letters issued to them as a proposal was submitted for residential buildings. If the proposed reservation on over 14-acre land in Thane is not removed, they will be deprived of the same, the homebuyers stated.
In May last year, the NCLT Mumbai bench had admitted a plea by Beacon Trusteeship Ltd, the debenture trustees against Modella Textile Industries Ltd, after the company defaulted on its dues and the account was declared as Non-Performing Asset (NPA) on June 25, 2019.
The homebuyers had claimed they had invested in the project in 2012 and before the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) was initiated, they were assured that they would get the flats by December, 2024. However, they said in the resolution plan that they were not provided homes.
The homebuyers added that while the claim was made to Resolution Professional (RP) for homes, they learnt that the Thane corporation had proposed reservation on the said land.
The Thane corporation had informed about the same only after the CIRP started, which is against the law, the homebuyers claimed.
The homebuyers further said that the Thane corporation has proposed reservation on the land for which they had got approval for the residential project from the civic body itself and had also availed RERA registration.
The applicant homebuyers said while 21 bidders were interested in the project, 20 pulled out of it except one developer due to proposed reservation.
The homebuyers demanded that the COC-approved resolution plan be sent back and the resolution applicant should make necessary changes to cater to the needs and demands of the homebuyers.
The counsel for the homebuyers said that proposed reservation of land was an issue, leading to impact on valuation. The homebuyers claimed that they should be given flats instead of money and the proposed reservation by the civic authority would restrict the same.