A file photo of Amrapali CMD Anil Sharma
In a major development, the Supreme Court on Monday allowed the request of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to grill Amrapali CMD Anil Sharma, arrested in March last year for allegedly duping homebuyers and siphoning off funds to the tune of Rs 3,000 crore.
According to news reports, the boss of Noida-based company was already in the custody of the ED and the permission relates to him being interrogated in the custody.
The Supreme Court had last year cancelled the registration of the embattled Amrapali group under the Real Estate Regulatory Authority and the lease of its properties granted by Noida and Greater Noida authorities.
A bench of Justices Arun Mishra and U U Lalit had appointed the National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC) to complete all the pending projects of the Amrapali group.
The bench had also appointed senior advocate R Venkataramani as the court receiver in whom the rights of all the Amrapali properties will be vested after the cancellation of lease.
The top court had said Venkataramani would have the power to enter into any tri-party agreement for sale of the group's properties to recover the dues.
The bench had said the home buyers' money was diverted in violation of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) and the foreign direct investment (FDI) norms.
It had directed the Enforcement Directorate to investigate the alleged money laundering by Amrapali CMD Anil Sharma and other directors and senior officials of the group.
The court had added that Noida and Greater Noida colluded with the realty group in allowing diversion of the home buyers' money and not acting as per the law.
The court had directed Noida and Greater Noida to handover a completion certificate to the flat buyers who are already residing in various projects of the group.
(with PTI inputs)
