NEW DELHI: Indian cricketer Mahendra Singh Dhoni has moved the Supreme Court seeking protection of his ownership rights on an over 5,500-square feet penthouse he booked 10 year ago in a project of the embattled Amrapali Group.
Dhoni’s plea has come just ahead of the Aril 30 date the top court has set to hear pleas of home buyers on whether the property titles can be given to them.
The apex Court in its last hearing had stated it will also look into the ways their (home buyers) money, which was diverted to other ventures by Amrapali, can be realised and the the stalled projects be completed. The Court had also said that if anyone has to benefit from the Amrapali case, it is the hassled home buyers who invested their earnings but were not given flats.
Clubbing himself alongside this group is Dhoni, the former brand ambassador of the group’s failed housing schemes, and whose face / association was a hook that drew in these very same cheated home buyers.
For the record, Dhoni filed an application in the court through his lawyer, after receiving a notice from apex court-appointed forensic auditors seeking clarification on certain aspects of the purchase.
“This application is being moved by the applicant (Dhoni) to protect his rights qua his ownership and possession of Penthouse apartment…in Amrapali Sapphire phase-1 which was agreed to be sold to him vide agreement dated August 31, 2009,” Dhoni said in the application, filed through advocate Shekhar Kumar.
Dhoni said the apex court had on December 5 last year directed the forensic auditors to issue individual notices to home buyers who booked the flats on a paltry sum.
The former team India captain said his authorised representative has given a detailed reply to the notice sent by the forensic auditors.
Dhoni in his plea informed the court that he had booked the penthouse in Amrapali Safari in Ranchi. Simultaneously, the management of the Amrapali Group also engaged him as the brand ambassador for promoting projects of the group.
Dhoni said he has paid Rs 2 million for the property but only some work for the penthouse has been done and he has not been given the possession.
“It is respectfully submitted here that the price paid by the applicant is certainly not a paltry amount,” he said, adding that because he was associated with the Amrapali Group as their brand ambassador, he got the penthouse at a lower price.
This cannot be a ground to question the otherwise genuine (emphasis ours) agreement, he said.
The question then really is how much lower? While the affidavit mentions no market price for the property, it is reported to be worth Rs 10 million.
Dhoni said that like other home-buyers and creditors, he has also been duped by the Amrapali Group.
He sought direction from the court that the allotment of the penthouse is not questioned and he be allowed to take its possession.
For the record, the forensic auditors, Pawan Agrawal and Ravi Bhatia, had told the Supreme Court court that they have found that over Rs 30 billion of home buyers’ money was diverted by Amrapali promoters.
The Court had also appointed a valuer to ascertain the exact value of 5,229 unsold flats including those booked by Amrapali for just Rs 1, Rs 11 and Rs 12 and asked the valuer to submit its report.
