Supreme Court orders CBI probe into Supertech projects, cites 'builder-bank nexus'

The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to register seven preliminary enquiries to probe the nexus between builders and banks under subvention schemes.

The federal agency will investigate several Supertech projects and the roles of banks which have provided loans for these housing projects in the national capital region (NCR) and other states.

One of the preliminary enquiry is to probe Supertech projects and the role of banks that have loaned over ₹5,000 crore under the subvention scheme for its multiple housing projects.

Meanwhile, another enquiry will be registered to look into the projects of builders that fall outside of the NCR range.

The remaining five preliminary enquiries will investigate the role five government authorities namely Noida, Greater Noida, Yamuna Expressway Industrial authority, Gurugram authority, and Ghaziabad development authority.

For carrying out the investigation, the CBI will form special investigation team, consisting of personnel from Uttar Pradesh and Haryana state police. This is because majority of the projects that are under the agency's radar are based in NCR.

Nodal officers, CAs to help probe

Additionally, the apex court also directed land development authorities, ministry of housing and urban affairs, RERA of UP and Haryana, and Reserve Bank of India (RBI), to appoint nodal officers who will provide all the information sought by the CBI or the SIT.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants of India has also been directed to provide services of three CAs to help the SIT in investigating the 'builder-banker' nexus.

The Supreme Court has sought the first interim report within a month, indicating that the matter will be monitored on a monthly basis.