New Delhi: In a major decision, the Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed the Government of Odisha to disburse Rs 63 crores deposited by owner of Hi-tech Builders Tirupati Panigrahi, to the people who paid money to the builder but did not get the land promised to them.
A two-member division bench of the apex court directed the State government to disburse the amount as per OPID Act, said Advocate Subhasish Mishra while talking to Kalinga TV.
On February 21, 2014, the apex court had granted conditional bail to Panigrahi and directed him to deposit Rs 63.5 crore to be refunded to duped land buyers.
The builder had earlier deposited Rs 50 crore in four instalments in connection with the multi-crore real-estate scam.
Panigrahi and his two relatives — Tirupati Choudhury and Madhusudan Panigrahi – were arrested by the Economic Offences Wing (EoW) of the state Crime Branch on December 25, 2012 for reneging on the promise of providing residential plots to people after taking money from them in 2009.
The Hi-Tech chief owns real estate firms, two private medical colleges and several professional educational institutes spread over various places in Odisha under the business conglomerate Hi-Tech Group.
Ms Kalinga