SC overturns Maya decision on Noida hotel plots

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has upheld legality of the land allotment to 14 hospitality companies, including ITC and Indian Hotels Company Ltd, by the Mulayam Singh Yadavled UP government in 2007.

The order came as a jolt to the Mayawati government which had cancel the lease granted to such companies by the previous political dispensation in the state. A bench headed by Justice RV Raveendran on Tuesday upheld the order of the Allahabad High Court, which had quashed the directive of Noida authorities to cancel the lease under the direction of the Mayawati-led government.

The bench has asked the 14 hospitality companies to pay a premium of Rs 70,000 per sq mt to the Noida Authority for a lease of 90 years. It further directed the Noida Authority to return the money along with 11% interest to the companies, which does not want to pay premium and walk out from the lease. Land leases were given by the Mulayam government to ITC, Indian Hotels, Bharat Hotels and other companies for setting up 14 hotels in Noida for the 2010 Commonwealth Games.

However, when Mayawati came into power in the state, all 14 lease deeds were scrapped citing corruption in the land auction. This was challenged by the hoteliers before the high court, which quashed the lease cancellation orders passed by Noida Authority and had remanded the matter to the state government for reconsideration. However, the hoteliers had approached the SC as the deadline for the CWG was coming near and delay could have affected the chances of getting all these hotels ready before the games.