Housing minister talks with Arun Jaitley to protect interests of Jaypee homebuyers

The newly appointed Housing and urban affairs minister Hardeep Singh Puri has held talks with finance and corporate affairs minister Arun Jaitley on the issue of protecting the interests of homebuyers in Jaypee Infratech’s 27 projects where insolvency proceedings were initiated. While the option of amending the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC) has been suggested to Puri, he will shortly send a detailed proposal to the finance minister. According to media reports, Puri had also taken up the issue with officials in the ministry. Puri was informed that as the IBC was being handled by the corporate affairs ministry; the urban development ministry could not do much. The ministry’s legal adviser has suggested that the law could be amended to treat homebuyers at par with lenders to the projects, who have the first right on funds in case of liquidation. It is unclear if an amendment can help existing homebuyers in Jaypee Infratech projects as the case has been admitted in the National Company Law Tribunal. A case is also being heard by the Supreme Court. Puri had instructed his officers to chart out a roadmap on what the government could do to protect the interests of 25,000-30,000 homebuyers, sources said. The government, including the finance ministry, is looking for various options to protect the interests of homebuyers, given that several of them have invested their life’s savings to buy a house.