The Supreme Court on Tuesday (January 20, 2025) set aside a Punjab and Haryana High Court order directing a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the construction of Ambience Mall in Gurugram on land originally allocated for a group housing project, holding that the High Court’s July 10, 2020, direction was “ex facie erroneous.”
A Bench comprising Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Sandeep Mehta, however, clarified that its ruling would not affect proceedings pending before the High Court on other related issues.
“We are of the firm view that the High Court has proceeded on a totally erroneous assumption that the residential colony was required to be developed over the entire 18.98 acres and not 10.98 acres. The above conclusion drawn is ex facie erroneous in the face of the contract executed between the parties and the approved layout plan,” the Bench said.
The dispute arose from the development of Ambience Mall and other commercial complexes on approximately 19 acres of land in Nathupur village along the Delhi-Jaipur National Highway in Gurugram. While the land had been approved in the early 1990s for a group housing project, a portion of it was subsequently delicensed to permit commercial construction, a move that was later challenged by residents and buyers.
