Bengaluru’s real estate giant, Sobha Ltd, finds itself in hot water after a local court has kickstarted criminal proceedings against the developer, accusing it of mortgaging its Sobha City project for a staggering ₹1,040 crore without the knowledge of its homebuyers.

What Happened? Diving deeper, the court highlighted that Sobha Ltd, without consulting its homebuyers, added an extra 450 units to the project. But the real twist? The developer allegedly used a counterfeit No Objection Certificate (NOC) from 2013 to get a revised building plan approved.

Srinivasa Talla, a homebuyer who bought an apartment in 2017, has played a major role in this discovery. After filing a Right to Information (RTI) appeal in 2022, he discovered that the NOCs from local authorities were never issued by the fire department. This revelation led to the local municipality, BBMP, revoking all occupancy certificates for the project in January 2023.

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Talla’s initial attempt to file a police complaint hit a dead end, leading him to seek justice from the magistrate court. The court’s deep dive revealed that Sobha Ltd had borrowed a whopping ₹990 crores, repaying ₹645 crores post-apartment sales, and then took an additional loan of ₹50 crore.

The court’s verdict? There’s enough evidence to charge the developer under multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code.

Price Action: Sobha Ltd. shares were trading 4.88% lower at ₹663.00, shortly before market close on Wednesday.

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