Delhi HC dismisses Tata’s plea, Taj Mansingh Hotel’s auction to go ahead

The Delhi high court on Thursday gave its nod for the public auction of the iconic Taj Mansingh Hotel by the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), in an order that came as a blow to the Tata group-run Indian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL).

The Delhi high court on Thursday gave its nod for the public auction of the iconic Taj Mansingh Hotel by the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC), in an order that came as a blow to the Tata group-run Indian Hotels Company Ltd (IHCL).

Delhi HC gave its nod for the public auction of the iconic Taj Mansingh Hotel. (Mohd Zakir/HT File Photo)

A bench of justice Pradeep Nandrajog and justice Pratibha Rani dismissed the appeal moved by IHCL, which runs the luxury property in central Delhi, challenging a previous decision of the high court’s single-judge bench declining to renew the licence.

In September, the single judge bench had upheld NDMC’s decision to go ahead with the auction.

The property, owned by NDMC, was given to IHCL on a lease for 33 years that ended in 2011. The IHCL was given 9 temporary extensions since then on various grounds with three of them being in the last year itself.

In January this year, NDMC said it was in the process of assessing the assets of the hotel in preparation for its much-delayed auction.

IHCL had approached the high court seeking a decree of permanent injunction restraining the NDMC from interfering in any manner with the possession, right to operate, run and maintain the hotel at the prime location in Lutyen’s Delhi.