3C Company: District Administration Arrests Firm's Director For Default Of Rs 100 Crores

After Jaypee and Amrapali, Noida-based The 3C Company is in for hard times as it has failed to deliver housing projects while accumulating huge debt. On November 4, 2019, group director Surpreet Suri was arrested from his Delhi office by the Gautam Buddh Nagar administration, on grounds of defaulting on payments amounting to over Rs 100 crores.  

"Three recovery certificates were issued against the 3C Group, including one related to the National Consumer Forum for Rs 35 crores, another for Rs 65 crores and one around Rs 4 crores," Dadri sub-divisional magistrate Rajeev Rai said, adding Suri had become inaccessible to people and had even stopped going to his office. The administration is also on the lookout for Vidur Bharadwaj and Nirmal Singh, the two other directors of the group.

NCLT Admits Lotus Zing Homebuyers' Plea, Insolvency Proceedings Against 3C Company Initiated

The developer has also been facing insolvency proceedings for delaying the project, Sector 168-based Lotus Zing. Not long back, the firm faced buyer’s ire for undue delay in delivering Lotus Panache located in Noida Sector 110 and Lotus Boulevard in Sector 100.

3C insolvency case begins

The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) has initiated insolvency proceedings against The 3C Company, after five Lotus Zing homebuyers filed a plea in the tribunal over project delays.

Despite regular payments as per the builder-buyer agreements, five years on, homebuyers have been waiting for possession of their Sector 168-based project, Lotus Zing. The NCLT has appointed Manish Kumar Gupta as the interim resolution professional (IRP) in the case.

"Clauses that protect the builder against unforeseen circumstances hampering construction cannot be given a literal meaning. It does not mean the corporate debtor can defer possession till eternity and the financial creditor is expected to wait ... a reasonable construction of any such clause would be to grant the company another year for project completion ... that period ended in 2015 in this case," the NCLT said.

The company has been directed to provide the IRP with all information pertaining to the project within a week. The NCLT has also prohibited project lenders from launching any moves to recover dues in this period.

Granite Gate insolvency case

A couple moved the NCLT against 3C Company’s subsidiary Granite Gate in July 2018 after homebuyers were awarded the status of financial creditors under the amendment made to the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Ordinance, 2018, on June 6.

Many big and small groups of aggrieved homebuyers had approached the NCLT over the last couple of years ever since the developer firm turned down their plea for refunds.  

Earlier, three directors of the company were arrested on charges of duping homebuyers of Lotus 300 project, and siphoning of funds worth Rs 190 crore. The project was to be delivered in 2011.

Other delayed 3C projects

Homebuyers in other 3C projects such as Lotus Boulevard (Sector 100), Greenopolis and Woodview are also affected. Buyers are calling in for legal supervision while many have formed groups and approached lawyers to take the matter forward.