NEW DELHI: Supreme Court has praised the restitution of flats to at least 213 homebuyers who had waited for more than 12 years to get possession of properties they had paid for.The restituted properties are part of 354 flats, 17 commercial units and two plots in Royal Rajvilas project in Udaipur — together worth over Rs 175 crore — restored by Enforcement Directorate to victims of a ‘scam’ in which project promoters had allegedly swindled over Rs 1,267 crore of Syndicate Bank, now Canara Bank.SC lauded ED for helping the homebuyers. The agency had attached Royal Rajvilas after the project got entangled in multiple cases of fraud, cheating and money laundering. ED later approached Rajasthan HC, and subsequently, the apex court seeking to withdraw its attachment partially and restore the properties to the fraud victims.“We place on record our appreciation for the efforts made by the learned counsels for parties and ED in restoring the attached properties to secure the interests of genuine and innocent homebuyers,” an SC bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and Alok Aradhe said.ED verified the details of 221 homebuyers and submitted ‘no objection’ in restitution of the properties to homebuyers, except in case of eight, which were marked as beneficiaries of “proceeds of crime”.The restitution will help the 213 homebuyers who had been in throes of anxiety because of protracted litigation of over seven years between the successful resolution applicant Udaipur Entertainment World Pvt Ltd and ED. SC has, however, clarified that it has passed the order on the peculiar facts of the case without going into the merits, and so it shall not be treated as a precedent and questions of law shall remain open to be decided in an appropriate case.
