Asian Hotels (East) Ltd is hopeful of its Mumbai property being freed of legal dispute with Airport Authority of India soon, giving a chance to the breakaway arm of erstwhile Asian Hotels, which now operates only hotel Hyatt in Kolkata, to enter the lucrative financial capital of the country.

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“We have a very strong opinion that it would be resolved very soon. Things are now moving very fast. We already have some interim order issued by the High court, which speaks in our favour. We don’t have a plan yet how to develop the property. Let the legal issue get settled first,” joint managing director Umesh Saraf told DNA on Wednesday after the annual general meeting of the company.

Asian Hotels East’s subsidiary, Convention Centre and Hotels Ltd, owns about 31,000 square metres of land near the international airport, Sahar, Mumbai, but its ownership has been under a legal dispute pending before the Bombay High Court.

“This is a legacy that we inherited when we split from the Asian Hotels. We sincerely believe that we would prevail upon the case. There are two opinions taken by Airports Authority of India, from the Solicitor General as well as the Attorney General, and both of them have advised the AAI that they should settle the case with us and move on. We got this information through the Right To Information Act. We are hopeful but these processes takes time,” Arun Saraf, the other joint managing director, told shareholders.

In December AAI took out a notice of motion seeking permission of the court for the use of land by the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai for dumping excavated material for a period of 12 to 14 months. AHEL, opposing the notice, sought inspection of all documents referred to and relied upon by AAI.

“The case is pending for adjudicative hearing. Presently recording of evidence is being done by the commissioner appointed by the Bombay High court,” Saraf said.

The demerged arm of the erstwhile Asian Hotels meanwhile is set to get control of about 68-70% in the recently opened Hyatt Regency, Chennai. “Now that Chennai property has opened, we can go for conversion of our preference shares into equity depending upon when the conversion is due. We would own a significant portion of equity, about 68-70% following conversion. This was envisaged before the split happened,” Umesh said. 

AHEL’s investment in the Chennai hotel has been routed through GJS Hotels, which upon conversion of the preference shares would hold majority stake in Robust Hotels, which operates the Chennai property.