Noida: The Allahabad High Court in an order has rejected realty firm Logix Buildwell Private Limited’s plea in which it prayed seeking interest on ₹62 crore paid by it to the Noida authority against a commercial plot located in Sector 32.
The court said, “The realty firm had voluntarily waived its right to claim interest.”
“The principles of waiver, estoppel, and that a party cannot benefit from its own wrong or take contradictory positions in litigation,” said the order.
The high court delivered the order on Wednesday (October 15) but it was released on the official website later.
The Logix Group was unavailable to comment on the matter despite repeated attempts by HT.
To be sure, this issue between the Noida authority and the Logix commenced in 2011 after the authority allotted a 50,000 square metres (sqm) plot that year to Logix Buildwell under a Commercial Builders Plot-VI scheme.
“The company deposited an earnest money of ₹10 crore and finalised as the highest bidder with a total premium of ₹556.25 crore. The allotment required 10% payment within 90 days, with the balance payable in 16 half-yearly instalments, alongside timely execution of the lease deed,” said a Noida authority official aware of the issue on Sunday while requesting anonymity.
The Allahabad High court said that the authority later cancelled the allotment due to alleged non-compliance by the realty firm.
Logix Buildwell, however, challenged the Noida authority’s decision on the ground that the authority had failed to discharge its obligations, including providing a checklist and executing the lease deed.
The High Court, in August 2022, ordered the Noida authority to refund ₹62.09 crore within 45 days, leaving the question of interest open for the company to approach the authority.
“Following the judgment, the Noida Authority Board, in its 208th meeting in December 2022, took a decision to release the refund. The company, needing urgent funds, provided a notarised undertaking on January 9, 2023, confirming it would not claim interest or initiate further proceedings. The Noida authority refunded the full amount in March 2023. Logix Buildwell later attempted to claim interest, arguing that the undertaking was given under economic duress,” said the same official cited above.
The court observed that the petitioner voluntarily accepted the refund based on its undertaking, and cannot now resile to claim interest, citing established legal principles including the doctrine of approbation and reprobation.
The High Court also noted that the allotment terms did not provide for interest in case of surrender or cancellation, reinforcing that the Noida authority had acted within its statutory powers.
The petition was dismissed in its entirety.