Hotel Leela Venture to pay Rs. 258 crore to AAI

In a blow to hospitality company Hotel Leela Venture, the Supreme Court rejected its appeal and ordered it to pay a royalty of Rs. 258 crore to the Airport Authority of India (AAI) for possessing its 11,000 sq mt property near Mumbai International Airport.

The appeal filed by the company challenging the order of the division bench of the Delhi High Court was dismissed by the bench comprising Justices RF Nariman and Navin Sinha on Tuesday. The AAI had leased the 11,000 sq mt land to Leela in February 1996 for a period of 30 years for building 150 more rooms in the existing hotel.

Hotel Leela Venture traded in red on the bourses on Tuesday. In accord with the global stock markets, the Hotel Leela Venture plunged to an intraday low of Rs. 19.25, down by 5.63 per cent on BSE on Tuesday. The stock traced an intraday high of Rs. 19.95, to remain in the negative territory.

At 11:27 hours, Hotel Leela Venture traded at Rs. 19.30 per share, lower by 5.39 per cent on BSE. Meanwhile, at the same time, S&P BSE Sensex traded at 33,741.82 level, lower by 2.92 per cent and NSE Nifty50 traded at 10,358.80 level, down by 2.89 per cent on Tuesday.