SG's view awaited on Taj Mansingh auction

Yet to receive the Solicitor General's (SG) opinion on the matter of the Taj Mansingh auction, the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) is waiting for the Union home ministry to pass on the law officer's views.

"We will wait for the instruction and table the matter in the next council meeting," said NDMC chairman Jalaj Srivastava, when asked whether the council would adhere to the opinion of SG Mohan Parasaran that the Taj should be given a lease extension.

NDMC had approached the SG on whether the Taj Group should be given the first right of refusal in the auction of the property last year. The council had moved its query through the law and home ministries.

The civic body had extended the lease of the luxury hotel, which ended in March, for another four months, ending in July 2014 in the last council meeting. The matter is also in the high court here after Indian Hotels Company (IHC) filed an injunction to get a stay on the auction. IHC, which operates the Taj Group of hotels, had approached the HC to secure a stay on the auction of the property in April last year.