The Supreme Court on Monday allowed Hi-Tech Group chairman and realtor Tirupati Panigrahi two weeks' time to refund the pending amount in connection with the Rs 315-crore land fraud. The court while hearing the case had asked Panigrahi to refund Rs 63.55 crore to the investors. Panigrahi has already paid back Rs 20 crore and will take two weeks to refund another Rs 43 crore. In December 2014, the Supreme Court had turned down Panigrahi's plea to extend his bail period after he failed to deposit Rs 53 crore in time which he was asked by the court to pay up. The court in May 2014 had ordered Panigrahi to return depositors' money within three to months. The court turned down the plea of Panigrahi for at least six months to start the process of refunding the amount.
