Impossilbe to downgrade gradle version during build - gradle

Question

As I was trying to provide fixes on our app developed with nativescript-vue 2.4 and nativescript 7.
The situation right now is gradle 7 no longer support some compiler features. For some obscure reason, I am unable to control which gradle version to use for compilation.
We have found solution for locking the gradle by specifing it in the build.gradle file.
I suspect there is a plugin currently overriding this to use the latest gradle version.
Here is the dependecies at play :
"dependencies": {
"axios": "0.19.2",
"lodash": "4.17.15",
"moment": "2.24.0",
"nativescript-cardview": "3.2.0",
"nativescript-clipboard": "1.2.0",
"nativescript-dev-version": "./custom-hooks/version",
"nativescript-fingerprint-auth": "7.0.2",
"nativescript-geolocation": "^5.1.0",
"nativescript-i18n": "0.4.1",
"nativescript-iqkeyboardmanager": "1.5.1",
"nativescript-keyboard-toolbar": "1.1.0",
"nativescript-loading-indicator": "2.5.2",
"nativescript-local-notifications": "4.2.1",
"nativescript-lottie": "3.0.3",
"nativescript-masked-text-field": "4.0.3",
"nativescript-pager": "11.0.11",
"nativescript-phone": "3.0.1",
"nativescript-platform-css": "1.6.10",
"nativescript-plugin-firebase": "10.6.3",
"nativescript-preferences": "1.1.2",
"nativescript-secure-storage": "2.6.0",
"nativescript-theme-core": "1.0.6",
"nativescript-toasty": "2.0.1",
"nativescript-ui-listview": "8.2.0",
"nativescript-vue": "2.4.0",
"node-email-validation": "1.0.4",
"tns-core-modules": "6.5.20",
"vue-currency-filter": "3.4.3",
"vue-i18n": "8.16.0",
"vuex": "3.1.3"
},
"devDependencies": {
"#babel/core": "7.9.0",
"#babel/preset-env": "7.9.0",
"babel-loader": "8.1.0",
"eslint": "3.19.0",
"eslint-config-airbnb-base": "11.3.2",
"eslint-config-prettier": "2.10.0",
"eslint-plugin-import": "2.20.1",
"eslint-plugin-prettier": "2.7.0",
"husky": "4.2.3",
"nativescript": "7.2.1",
"nativescript-dev-webpack": "1.5.1",
"nativescript-vue-template-compiler": "2.3.0",
"node-sass": "4.13.1",
"prettier": "1.19.1",
"tns-android": "6.5.3",
"tns-ios": "6.5.4",
"vue-loader": "15.9.1"
},
Thanks for you help.