Supreme Court Issues Notice and Tags GHAR Homebuyers’ Writ With Main Ansal CIRP Matter in ₹257.43 Crore Sushant Golf City Default
Supreme Court Issues Notice and Tags GHAR Homebuyers’ Writ With Main Ansal CIRP Matter in ₹257.43 Crore Sushant Golf City Default
Introduction
The Supreme Court has issued notice in a writ petition filed by the Genuine Homebuyers Association for Relief (GHAR) challenging the insolvency proceedings against Ansal Properties and Infrastructure Ltd. concerning the Sushant Golf City project, Lucknow. A Bench of Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice K.V. Viswanathan directed that the writ petition be tagged with the already pending main matter arising out of the CIRP, noting the substantial homebuyer interest and overlapping issues.
Factual Background
The controversy arises from a Section 7 insolvency application filed by IL&FS Financial Services Ltd. against Ansal Properties and Infrastructure Ltd. for a default of approximately ₹257.43 crore in relation to financing extended for the Sushant Golf City hi-tech township project in Lucknow. The loans were originally granted in 2016, later restructured, and despite recall notices and settlement efforts in March 2022 and November 2023, the corporate debtor remained in default. Even after partial payments of ₹28.36 crore, the default continued as on 21 May 2024. The project involves thousands of homebuyers, reportedly around 5,000 in the present GHAR petition alone, while the broader township includes a significantly larger allottee base.
GHAR approached the Supreme Court under Article 32, asserting that the project is not a purely private commercial dispute but is deeply intertwined with the Uttar Pradesh Hi-Tech Township Policy, government MoUs, and statutory authorities, thereby raising substantial public law concerns affecting homebuyers’ constitutional and statutory rights.
Procedural Background
The NCLT, New Delhi, by order dated 25 February 2025, admitted the Section 7 petition filed by IL&FS Financial Services Ltd., initiated CIRP against Ansal Properties and Infrastructure Ltd., and imposed a moratorium after finding that both debt and default stood established beyond the statutory threshold.
On appeal, the NCLAT, by judgment dated 7 January 2026, while refusing to set aside the CIRP, recognized the complexity of the real estate insolvency and restricted the insolvency process to project-linked assets, particularly Sushant Golf City and certain Rajasthan projects, while deferring wider stakeholder protection issues.
In parallel, GHAR filed the present writ petition before the Supreme Court seeking constitutional intervention in view of the large-scale public impact on homebuyers and state-linked project obligations. The Supreme Court has now issued notice and tagged the petition with the main pending Ansal matter.
Issues
1. Whether the Supreme Court should exercise Article 32 jurisdiction in a real estate CIRP involving thousands of homebuyers.
2. Whether the Sushant Golf City project raises public law issues due to state policy, MoUs, and statutory authority involvement.
3. Whether the writ petition should be heard together with the pending SLP/CIRP proceedings involving Ansal Properties.
Contentions of Parties
GHAR, through Prashant Bhushan, contended that the matter warranted the Supreme Court’s intervention for two principal reasons. First, the Court had already entertained an SLP arising from the same CIRP, making continued judicial supervision appropriate. Second, the Sushant Golf City project was described as a government-organised township initiative involving public authorities, policy commitments, and MoUs, thereby transcending the boundaries of a mere private insolvency dispute and implicating broader public law obligations toward homebuyers.
Reasoning and Analysis
The Supreme Court took note of the parallel insolvency proceedings already pending before it in the Ansal matter, as well as the scale of homebuyer concerns involved in the Lucknow Sushant Golf City township. Without entering into the merits at this preliminary stage, the Bench considered it appropriate that the GHAR writ be heard alongside the main CIRP-linked matter so that all interconnected questions concerning insolvency, project completion, and stakeholder rights can be considered cohesively.
The order reflects the Court’s recognition that the dispute extends beyond a bilateral creditor-debtor contest and potentially involves systemic concerns in large real estate insolvencies where government policy frameworks and public authorities are embedded in project execution. The tagging direction also prevents fragmentation of adjudication and ensures consistency in future orders affecting thousands of homebuyers.
Decision
The Supreme Court issued notice in the GHAR writ petition and directed that it be tagged with the main pending matter concerning Ansal Properties and Infrastructure Ltd. arising out of the CIRP over the ₹257.43 crore default linked to Sushant Golf City, Lucknow. No final determination on merits has yet been made.
