The Supreme Court on Monday asked debt-ridden realty firm Jaypee Associates to deposit Rs 2,000 crore with the court’s registry by October 27. More than 30,000 people had invested money and booked homes in 27 of the company’s projects. The court also banned the managing director and directors of Jaypee Infratech from leaving the country without permission, PTI reported.

The Supreme Court asked the interim resolution professional, appointed by the National Company Law Tribunal, to take over the management of Jaypee Infratech and submit a plan to protect the interests of home buyers and creditors in 45 days, the PTI report said.

“We understand the plight of home buyers and it is a problem of great magnitude,” News18 quoted the Supreme Court as saying. “We are not concerned about interests of companies but are concerned about middle class home buyers who are paying EMIs.”

The proceedings against Jaypee

On August 10, the Allahabad bench of the National Company Law Tribunal had allowed the insolvency proceedings against Jaypee Infratech, after its financier IDBI filed a petition against the firm for defaulting on a Rs 526-crore loan.

On September 4, the Supreme Court stayed insolvency proceedings against the real estate firm after home buyers told the bench they would lose all their money. They had asked the court to protect the interests of the thousands who had invested money to book homes in 27 different projects of the debt-ridden realty firm. Their plea claimed that home buyers, who are unsecured creditors, will get nothing out of the insolvency proceedings as dues of the financial institutions will be cleared first.