HC Stays Land Rs 111 Crore Claim by L&DO on ITC Maurya Land

                The Delhi High Court on Wednesday halted a 
₹111-crore ground rent demand by the Land 
and Development Office (L&DO) for the past 25 
years on six acres of land leased to the 
conglomerate in 1975. This is a significant 
relief to Calcutta-based ITC, which operates a 
luxury five-star hotel in the heart of New Delhi.
On this property in Diplomatic Enclave, New 
Delhi’s Sardar Patel Marg, sits the ITC Maurya 
hotel.
In addition to giving notice to the L&DO of the 
Urban Development Ministry, Justice Sanjeev 
Narula also halted the two demand notices 
dated March 14 and April 22, which demanded 
that ITC pay ground rent totalling ₹111.06 
crore. The subject has been postponed until 
October 22 for additional hearings.
In addition, ITC has asked the L&DO to issue a 
directive to proceed with its October 
application for the land’s conversion from 
leasehold to freehold in compliance with the 
then-current 
2003 policy.
Although ITC was given permission to use the 
six acres of property in 1975, a perpetual lease 
title was provided to it in 1988 in exchange for 
a yearly fee payment of ₹13.13 lakh.
Enraged by “such brazen conduct from the 
L&DO officials,” senior counsel Anil Kher said 
the HC in his appearance for the ITC that the 
office was acting “arbitrarily and unreasonably” 
in 
trying to retroactively amend the ground rent in 
violation of its own office instructions and 
circulars.

Source : The Economic Time