SC Panel Declares Grand Venice Project Unfit for Occupancy

• Project lacks basic facilities like lifts, staircases, and fire compliance

• Around ₹1,000 crore of investor money remains stuck for over 15 years

• Supreme Court seeks responses from developer and stakeholders

Greater Noida: More than 15 years after the ambitious Grand Venice commercial project was launched, a Supreme Court-appointed committee has declared it unfit for occupancy due to major construction deficiencies and lack of statutory approvals.

The project, located at Plot No. SH3, Surajpur Site 4, was marketed as a premium destination featuring offices, retail stores, and a hotel. While the ground-floor mall is currently operational, the rest of the structure remains incomplete and unusable. Estimates suggest that nearly ₹1,000 crore of investors’ money is locked in the stalled development.

A two-member independent committee, headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice Deepak Gupta with senior advocate Rekha Palli, conducted a detailed review of the project. Their findings pointed to serious lapses by the developer, Bhasin Infotech and Infrastructure Private Limited (BIIPL), which had collected high booking prices ranging from ₹6,500 to ₹10,000 per sq ft as far back as 2010.

Around 75% of allottees claim to have paid nearly 90% of the total cost upfront, yet most have not received possession of their units. Frustrated buyers have filed multiple legal cases against BIIPL and its promoter, Satinder Singh Bhasin, alleging fraud and misrepresentation.

To assess the ground reality, the committee engaged Anant Kumar, former Special Director General of the Central Public Works Department (CPWD). After several site inspections, Kumar submitted a preliminary report stating that the project falls far short of completion standards.

His report highlighted critical shortcomings, including:

• Non-functional lifts and elevators

• Absence of staircases, transformers, DG sets, and air-conditioning systems

• No partition walls from the 9th to 14th floors, making individual units unidentifiable

• Missing service floors that were part of the approved plan

• Fire clearance valid only up to the 8th floor, while the building was planned for 15 floors

According to the findings, essential services such as restrooms, lighting, plastering, and flooring remain incomplete. “In its present condition, the complex cannot be considered complete or functional,” Kumar stated, adding that significant rectification work would be required before any handover to buyers.

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The committee’s report was submitted to a Supreme Court bench led by Justices Sanjay Karol and N. Kotiswar Singh, which made the findings public on January 13. The court has directed that the report be uploaded on its website and invited responses from all stakeholders, including the developer, allottees, and Uttar Pradesh authorities.

The legal battle dates back to 2019, when Bhasin approached the Supreme Court seeking consolidation of multiple FIRs filed against him. Although he was granted interim bail on the condition of settling disputes with buyers, complaints resurfaced in late 2023, prompting the court to form the independent committee in November 2025.

This case is part of a broader effort by the Supreme Court to address long-pending real estate disputes in Delhi-NCR. In recent years, the court has intervened in stalled projects of Supertech, Amrapali, Unitech, and Jaypee to safeguard homebuyer interests.

Many allottees allege that BIIPL misled them by claiming to have obtained a full completion certificate from UPSIDA, which later turned out to be only a partial approval. Possession was promised on the basis of this incomplete certification.

The committee is expected to submit its final report by January 23, after which the Supreme Court will hear the matter again on January 27. For thousands of investors, the upcoming decision could determine whether the long-awaited project will ever see completion.

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