Delhi HC gives a green signal to auction Taj Mansingh
NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday dismissed a plea by the Tatas challenging the tender procedure of the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) to auction the iconic Taj Mansingh Hotel, stating that the civic body’s procedure is well thought of.
Giving a green signal to auction the hotel, a bench of Justice S Ravindra Bhat and Justice AK Chawla said that the NDMC’S tendering process is based on “thoughts” and “deliberations”.
It also said that the civic body is maintaining “high bidding standards”.
“…NDMC insists that a successful bid has to pay a substantial non-refundable upfront amount, in addition to over ₹35 crores as security through irrevocable bank guarantee. All these ensure that bidding standards are high and the level of competition is likely to be of an order comparable — to the best of NDMC’S efforts — with what Indian hotels provided,” the bench said.
The court’s decision comes on a plea by the Indian Hotels Company Limited, which had sought a direction to quash the tender by the NDMC inviting bids for grant of leave and licence of the Taj Mansingh Hotel.
The petitioners, through their counsel, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi had contended that the essential condition with respect to its unblemished track record, as directed by the apex court, has not been properly factored into the eligibility conditions.
However, appearing for NDMC, its counsel senior advocate Sanjay Jain submitted that tender procedure in this case was done after considerable application of mind and the contention of the petitioners is “unsubstantial”.
On April 20 last year, the apex court had allowed the civic agency to e-auction Taj Mansingh, currently being run by Tata Group firm IHCL.
The Tatas had moved SC challenging the division bench of the high court against the September 5, 2016, judgment of a single judge who had not acceded to the firm’s request for renewal of licence for a further period, saying it was not entitled for the extension.