NDMC asked to rethink auction of Taj Mansingh

The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) to reconsider its decision of auctioning the iconic Taj Mansingh Hotel, in the wake the Attorney-General and the Solicitor-General’s opinion not to initiate any such process.

The apex court noted the fact that the opinion of both the top law officers against the auctioning of the hotel was not placed before the Ministry of Home Affairs for consideration.

A Bench of Justices Pinaki Ghose and R.F. Nariman also took note of the fact that there was an internal opinion of the top office bearers of NDMC against the auctioning process.

Report in six weeks

“At this stage, we direct NDMC to reconsider its decision in view of its own internal opinion and the opinions of the Attorney-General and Solicitor-General. The report should be filed within six weeks,” the Bench said.

During the hearing, the Bench said: “You [NDMC] have not placed the [A-G and the S-G’s]opinions before the MHA. We do not know what the Ministry would have said if the opinions were placed before it.” It told Additional Solicitor-General Sanjay Jain that NDMC has told the Ministry that opinions of the A-G and the S-G, which have favoured extension of lease, are still awaited. —

PTI