The court reaffirmed that provisions of the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code, 2016 operate with overriding authority, especially regarding contractual obligations and state consent, nullifying previous rights without due process only under specified statutory conditions.

ORDER :

1. This Writ Petition is filed to declare the decision taken by Empowered Committee (Tourism) of the State of Telangana in its meeting dated 22.09.2025 as arbitrary and unconstitutional; and to further declare that the accrued right of Petitioner cannot be taken by Respondents 1, 2 and 3 without following procedure established by law and without compensating for the same and to further declare that such consent will be in violation of the Consolidated FDI Policy of India and also to direct Respondents 6 and 7 not to allow FDI in Golden Jubilee Hotels Private Limited by Respondent No.4 in violation of the Consolidated FDI Policy of India.

2. The facts of the case are :

Petitioner is the lead developer of consortium to which State of Andhra Pradesh (now Telangana) awarded project for construction, development and operation of a 5-Star Hotel at Hyderabad. Respondent No.1 is the State of Telangana through the Youth Advancement, Tourism & Culture Department that owns the project and floated the tender for the execution. Respondent No.2 is Telangana State Tourism Development Corporation which is a State Government undertaking and has been nominated by the State Government to represent Respondent No.1 for legal purposes. Respondent No.3 is the Empowered Committee (Tourism) of the State of Telangana comprising of the Deputy Chief Minister & Minister of Finance, Minister for Tourism & Culture and Minister for IT, Industries & Commerce, which was tasked with taking the decision on the representation of Respondent No.4 for taking over the project. Respondent No.4 is to whom the project has now been awarded by the State Government and it was the successful resolution applicant in the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP) of the Petitioner's project company. Respondent No.5 is a registered Society under the State of Telangana which granted additional land for construction and development of the project. Respondent No.6 is Reserve Bank of India. Respondent No.7 is the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India.

2.1. It is further stated that Respondent No.1 floated a tender for 'Five Star Hotel Project', whereby the successful bidder was to develop, finance, build, operate and transfer a Five Star Hotel on land leased by Respondents 1 and 5 against payment of a monthly lease and development premium. Further clarifications on the terms of the RFP were provided in pre-bid meetings. It was clarified in the pre-bid meetings that a separate Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) company was needed for maintenance of separate books of account to arrive at gross turnover for calculating additional development premium. Thus, SPV i.e. M/s. Golden Jubilee Hotels Pvt. Ltd. executed Lease Deed and Development & Management Agreement, both dated 09.05.2007, with Respondent No.1 for construction and development of the Hotel Project.

2.2. Petitioner further states that leader of consortium and financially significant member transferred their shareholding i.e. 84% shareholding to their company, which was recognized as the Lead Developer of the Project by Respondent No.1. Remaining 16% shareholding was held by M/s EIH Ltd., the technical member of the consortium. That part of the project land belongs to Respondent No.5 with which a separate lease agreement was entered for the purpose of the project. It is further stated, on 08.12.2008, Respondent No.1 approved the revised DPR for the project in which it was mentioned that Petitioner company is the venture company of My Home Group for this project and that they had mobilized the required 21 resources for the project. Respo