The Supreme Court has temporarily halted criminal proceedings against the Managing Directors (MDs) of IREO and Oberoi Realty, responding to concerns about the legitimacy of the charges. A Vacation Bench comprising Justices PV Sanjay Kumar and Augustine George Masih has sought a response from the Haryana government regarding the matter.
The Court emphasized the need to scrutinize whether the filing of a second complaint constitutes an abuse of legal process and if the complainant approached the Court with unclean hands. Pending this examination, the Court has stayed further proceedings.
The case, involving IREO Group MD Lalit Goyal and Oberoi Realty MD Vikas Oberoi, pertains to allegations of cheating, criminal breach of trust, and forgery. The companies had appealed to the Supreme Court following a June 6 order from the Punjab and Haryana High Court that upheld the registration of a First Information Report (FIR). They argued that the complainant failed to disclose a previous, unsuccessful complaint.
The FIR was initiated after a directive from a Gurugram Chief Judicial Magistrate, accusing the companies of defrauding housing project allottees, with an alleged embezzlement of around ₹1,777 crores.
Senior Advocate Vikram Chaudhri, along with a team of advocates, represented IREO Grace, while Senior Advocates Mukul Rohatgi and Vinod Ghai led the defense for the Oberoi group. The complainants, represented by Senior Advocates Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi and others, are associated with Advance India Projects.
The Supreme Court has scheduled the next hearing for July 9.
