NOIDA: In a major relief to homebuyers, the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT) ruled that genuine allottees whose payments are reflected in a builder’s books cannot be denied dues just because their claims were filed late in an ongoing insolvency process.
The appellate court, headed by its chairman Justice Ashok Bhushan, issued the order on October 17, setting aside an earlier decision of the chief bench of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT), which dismissed 20 homebuyer applications as ‘time-barred’ in the corporate insolvency proceedings of Today Homes Noida, the developer of the Ridge Residency project in Sector 135.
The Bhushan court further directed the successful resolution applicant (SRA) to ensure that these homebuyers are treated on par with other peers in the same class.
“The resolution applicant shall prepare an addendum and incorporate the appellants’ claims as reflected in the resolution professional’s affidavit filed pursuant to the March and June 2024 orders, and treat the appellant as financial creditors in a class by providing the same treatment as given to other homebuyers in the resolution plan, which process must be completed within 30 days from today,” the order said.
The NCLAT issued its order after 20 homebuyers of Ridge Residency challenged an NCLT order dated January 22, 2025. The NCLT had dismissed their claims as they were filed more than 90 days after the commencement of the corporate insolvency resolution process (CIRP), making them invalid, it said.
The CIRP against Today Homes Noida started on August 20, 2019 following a petition from homebuyers. The interim resolution professional filed claims until September 3, 2019, while hundreds of apartments in the Ridge Residency project were still incomplete and many buyers were awaiting possession.
The CoC approved One Group’s resolution plan in March 2020, but many homebuyers said they did not learn of the insolvency until 2023-2024 due to travel, the pandemic or a lack of communication with the builder.
Their belated claims were dismissed by the NCLT.
Justice Bhushan said the NCLT ignored the NCLAT’s May 2024 order to consider merits of deferred claims before re-examining the resolution plan. The tribunal noted that the settlement professional had already confirmed these buyers’ payments in the company’s records, so their claims could not be rejected due to technical delay. It added that the approval of the CoC does not erase the valid dues for the homebuyer.
Ridge Residency, launched in 2010 with a total of 18 towers, still has several incomplete blocks and limited registers.
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