Decided to e-auction Taj Mansingh Hotel: NDMC tells Supreme Court

The New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) on Friday told the Supreme Court that it has decided to e-auction the Taj Mansingh Hotel. "We have taken a decision to hold an e-auction. It would be an open auction. We will decide the date once this court permits us," Additional Solicitor General Sanjay Jain appearing for NDMC told the Bench of Justice Pinaki Ghosh and Justice R F Nariman.

The civic body had earlier announced to select MSTC Limited, a service provider involved in coal block auctions, to be its selling advisor while SBI cap would be the transaction advisor for the auction. However, the process got delayed when Tata moved the Delhi high court.

The hotel's counsel told the court that "we were surprised by the decision (of NDMC) which was conveyed to us by newspapers".

The Bench asked Tata Group-run Indian Hotels Company Limited (IHCL), which runs the luxury Taj Mansingh Hotel to file its objections to NDMC'S proposal by March 22, the next date of hearing.

The Supreme Court on November 21 ordered status quo on Taj Mansingh Hotel, disallowing the NDMC plea that the hotel should not be allowed to take bookings after the year ends. The IHCL had moved the Apex Court challenging the Delhi high court's October 27 order, which had allowed the auctioning of the property.

The property, owned by the NDMC, was given to IHCL on a 33-year lease that ended in 2011. IHCL has since then been managing the property on several extensions it has got from the municipal body.