The Supreme Court on Wednesday directed Lodha Developers, which acquired V Hotels Limited through an insolvency process, to deposit Rs 520.8 crore within four weeks to vacate the Enforcement Directorate’s attachment of land parcels worth Rs 4,000 crore.
The Apex Court passed the verdict on a petition filed by the national agency, challenging the Bombay High Court order that quashed ED’s money laundering case against V Hotels and set aside the provisional attachment of 12 of its properties in Mumbai.
The matter pertained to the action taken by ED against V Hotels, owner of Tulip Star, formerly known as the iconic Centaur Hotel in Juhu. The agency had provisionally attached properties across Juhu and Malad in April 2025, after V Hotels underwent corporate insolvency resolution.
ED claimed that the attached land and immovable assets were linked to alleged proceeds of crime, despite a change in ownership following a resolution plan approved under the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (IBC).
The Bombay High Court had quashed the ED’s proceedings in November 2023 on the grounds that once the resolution plan was approved under the IBC and a change in the company’s management was effective, the property of the corporate debtor would also get immunity from further prosecution of proceedings.
The ED’s attachment, either provisionally or otherwise, could not continue even for a day longer after the approval of the resolution plan, it noted.
On April 26, 2023, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) approved the corporate insolvency resolution plan for V Hotels. The Lodha Group, formerly known as Macrotech Developers, acquired V Hotels by paying Rs 520 crore for the properties. However, ED maintained that the assets represented proceeds of crime and should be attached in the new form as well.
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