Admn scraps Filmcity project,Parsvnath’s Rs 47-cr forfeited

The project is already being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation; the Central Vigilance Commission had asked it to look into its conceptualisation and allotment.

The latest order has been issued by UT Administrator General S F Rodrigues (retd),whose official tenure of five years has already expired.

“We decided to take the decision,as the developer has violated the terms and conditions of the contract,” a senior UT official said. “There was a clause in the agreement that we shall terminate the ties and forfeit the deposit,in case the developer violates certain conditions,which he did,and thus the decision.”

The Administration cited “delayed construction” and “non-payment of earnest money” as two of the four violations,which led to the termination of ties on the project with Parsvnath.

P K Jain of Parsvnath Developers Limited said: “We are not aware of any such development. We had asked the Administration to snap ties and refund our deposit. They never responded. In case they are forfeiting the deposit,we shall be forced to adopt legal recourse. We will discuss it with our legal cell and proceed accordingly.”

Controversies from the start
The Filmcity project has been mired into controversies ever since it was conceptualised and allotted to Parsvnath Developers Limited.

First the Administrator and his Advisor Pradip Mehra had locked horns over the project,with Mehra recommending a CBI probe into the project. Then in 2008,the CVC,while acting as a ‘court’,had marked a probe into the mega projects conceptualised and allotted during General Rodrigues’ tenure. Filmcity was one of the projects.

Last year,Parsvnath had demanded termination of ties on the project and sought refund of their deposit. But since the project was under the CVC scanner,the Administration had consulted it on termination of ties with the developer. In May this year,the CVC left it to the Administration to take a call on the project.

Following bureaucratic procedures,the Administration sought legal opinion on the issue from its Legal Remembrancer (LR),who gave a go ahead in July. Based on the LR’s opinion,a committee was constituted,which recommended that ties with the developer be snapped and deposit forfeited.

The final decision was taken by the Administrator.

Developer had accused
Administration of ‘lax attitude’
Earlier this year,the developer had accused the Administration of adopting a ‘lax attitude’ and not providing them an ‘encumbrance free’ possession of the land in Sarangpur,where the project was to come up. The first phase of the project was to start by the end of 2007,but even after two years,the Administration and the developer could not sort out the dispute and the project was held up.

Prideasia project also in limbo
The fate of another mega real-estate venture of Parsvnath — Prideasia — is also in limbo. Work on the project,which ran into rough weather,has been stalled. Now,investors are approaching the developer and the Chandigarh Housing Board — partner in the project — seeking refund of their investments. After the dispute with the developer,the CHB had sealed the Escrow account,in which the developer’s Rs 521 crore is deposited. Parsvnath claims to have spent nearly Rs 200 crore on the project,the fate of which is not clear.