Restaurant India News: SC Orders ED to Release V Hotels Assets to Lodha Developers

The Supreme Court has ordered the release of Mumbai’s iconic Centaur Hotel (Tulip Star), directing that the property be restored to Lodha Developers, the successful resolution applicant that acquired V Hotels Ltd through the insolvency process. The order, dated November 11, was uploaded on Wednesday.

A bench comprising Justices M. M. Sundresh and Satish Chandra Sharma held that properties attached by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) must be returned to the buyer, reaffirming the legal protection granted to successful bidders under India’s insolvency framework.

The decision comes days after the apex court permitted the Sandesara brothers of Sterling Biotech to settle approximately ₹5,100 crore in dues to resolve a ₹16,000-crore bank fraud case, while also allowing the quashing of FIRs against them. Together, the rulings highlight the court’s effort to balance stringent action on economic offences with practical mechanisms for recovery and resolution.

The ED had attached multiple assets of V Hotels Ltd including the prime beachfront Centaur Hotel in Juhu as part of a probe into alleged money laundering by the company’s former promoters. Investigators have been examining a ₹520-crore transaction believed to constitute “proceeds of crime”. Although ownership of V Hotels changed hands through insolvency, the attached assets remained locked due to the ongoing probe.

The Bombay High Court had vacated the attachment in November 2024, but the ED appealed to the Supreme Court. Earlier, the apex court directed Lodha Developers to deposit ₹520 crore as security while the matter was under consideration. In its operative directions, the Supreme Court said, “The attached properties, which stand substituted with a deposit in terms of this Court’s order dated 02.07.2025, are directed to be restored to the SRA. The amounts deposited by the Respondent No. 2 with the Directorate of Enforcement shall be released to the Respondent No. 2 along-with accrued interest, if any, within a period of two weeks from the date of this order.”

The Bench made it clear that the relief flows from Section 32A of the IBC and Section 8(8) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), both of which aim to protect bona fide purchasers and ensure that insolvency resolution is not frustrated by legacy criminal attachments. At the same time, it drew a sharp line between the corporate debtor and its former management. The court directed that the name of the corporate debtor be deleted from the ED’s prosecution complaint, while prosecution against erstwhile promoters, directors and alleged conspirators will continue.