Supreme Court - Daily Orders
The Indian Hotels Company Ltd vs New Delhi Municipal Council on 12 January, 2017
Bench: Pinaki Chandra Ghose, Rohinton Fali Nariman
1
ITEM NO.1 COURT NO.6 SECTION XIV
S U P R E M E C O U R T O F I N D I A
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
Petition(s) for Special Leave to Appeal (C) No(s). 33397/2016
(Arising out of impugned final judgment and order dated
27/10/2016 in RFA No. 67/2016 passed by the High Court Of Delhi At
New Delhi)
THE INDIAN HOTELS COMPANY LTD Petitioner(s)
VERSUS
NEW DELHI MUNICIPAL COUNCIL Respondent(s)
(With appln. (s) for permission to place addl. documents on
record, exemption from filing c/c of the impugned judgment and
permission to file lengthy list of dates)
Date : 12/01/2017 This petition was called on for hearing today.
CORAM :
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE PINAKI CHANDRA GHOSE
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ROHINTON FALI NARIMAN
For Petitioner(s) Mr. Harish Salve, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Rajiv Nayar, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Rishi Agrawala, Adv.
Mr. Mahesh Agarwal, Adv.
Mr. Karan Luthra, Adv.
Mr. Raghav Shankar, Adv.
Ms. Niyati Kohli, Adv.
Mr. Abhinav Agarwal, Adv.
For Mr. E. C. Agrawala, AOR
For Respondent(s) Mr. Sanjay Jain, ASG
Mr. Akshay Makhija, Adv.
Mr. Yoginder Handoo, AOR
Mr. Siddarth Thakur, Adv.
Ms. Rhea Verma, Adv.
Signature Not Verified
Mr. S. Sanyam, Adv.
Digitally signed by
Sangam Kumar, Adv.
R.NATARAJAN
Date: 2017.01.13
15:51:14 IST
Mr. Nishant Kumar, Adv.
Reason:
2
UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following
O R D E R
We have heard Mr. Harish Salve, learned Senior Counsel appearing for the petitioner – the Indian Hotels Company Limited and Mr. Sanjay Jain, learned Additional Solicitor General appearing for the respondent – New Delhi Municipal Council at considerable length.
During the course of hearing, we have been informed by learned Senior Counsel that opinions which were sought from the learned Solicitor General of India as well as the learned Attorney General for India by N.D.M.C. were not placed before the competent authority in the Ministry of Home Affairs while dealing with the matter, in which it came to the conclusion that public auction without giving a first right of refusal to the petitioner – the Indian Hotels Company Limited alone should be done.
It appears that even the N.D.M.C. vide its Resolution dated 27.09.2012 by majority agreed and came to a conclusion, after taking into consideration the facts, the Report of Committee of Officers, advice of competent authorities and also the legal opinion by advocates/law officers. This is summarized in its Minutes of the same date. Two options were short listed as follows:
(i) The Council may grant extension for a further period on the terms and conditions as may be mutually agreed upon with IHC, or
(ii) The Council may decide to go for public auction with first right of refusal to IHC.3
After carefully considering all the facts placed before it in the Agenda Item, the Council came to the following decision:
“... After discussing at length the pros and cons of the two options proposed in the Item, the Council resolved by majority, to opt for public auction, in a fair and transparent manner, of the NDMC property at 1, Man Singh Road, with first right of refusal to Indian Hotel Company. The recourse to public auction would serve to determine the market price of the license fee, that IHC would have to match if they wish to run a hotel at this property. This option, the Council noted would also safeguard its revenue interests.” The Council further resolved by majority to extend the period of license of IHC, on existing terms and conditions, for a further period of one year or till such time a new licensee is chosen through the bidding process, whichever is earlier....” In view of the above, at this stage, we direct the respondent-N.D.M.C. to reconsider the case of the petitioner in the light of their own decision dated 27.09.2012, and after taking into consideration the opinion expressed by the learned Solicitor General of India and learned Attorney General for India in the matter, and to submit their stand before this Court within a period of six weeks from today.
As prayed, list on Wednesday, the 1st March, 2017.
(R. NATARAJAN) (SNEH LATA SHARMA)
Court Master Court Master