Taj Mansingh auction: NDMC to seek legal opinion

New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) today decided to seek legal opinion from Solicitor General on the auction process of five-star hotel Taj Mansingh, presently run by the Tatas, here.

An NDMC spokesperson said the Council meeting decided to seek opinion of the Solicitor General on the auctioning issue.

BJP MLA Karn Singh Tanwar, an NDMC member who attended the meeting, claimed in the meeting it was also decided that fresh opinion will be taken from Urban Development Ministry and Ministry of Home Affairs.

The matter is subjudice as the Tata-owned Indian Hotels Company Ltd had filed a Special Leave Petition in the Supreme Court regarding the auction process.

In September last year, the municipal body had decided to give one-year extension to the Tatas for operating Taj Mansingh, besides giving the first right of refusal in an auction to be conducted within one year.

IHCL had entered into a 33-year lease for using the property in 1978, which ended on October 2011 and was extended by another year till October 10, 2012. It was again extended by an year.

The Urban Development Ministry had earlier suggested that NDMC should go for open bids for the property in which the Taj Hotel is situated, following which an independent consultant was asked to prepare a report on the road ahead.

In April, the Delhi High Court asked NDMC to respond to Tata Group's plea seeking to restrain the land-owning agency from auctioning the property on which Taj Mansingh Hotel is located.

In its plea, IHC has submitted it manages the property on which the hotel stands and pays a revenue-share fee to NDMC, which owns the land.

The hotel management company, in its plea, has also claimed the agreement with NDMC was a joint venture and in view of the long-term relationship between them, the matter should be reconsidered.

Tanwar also alleged it was decided that there would be a special meeting on the issue but no special meeting was convened. "And, now they have used delay tactics to stall the issue," he said.

He claimed the Home Ministry was against the provision of giving IHC first right to refusal to the Tatas in the auction as it "will result in lower bids in the public auction".