SC upholds HC order scrapping Raidurg land allotment to IAMC

HYDERABAD: Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to interfere with a Telangana high court order that cancelled the allotment of 3.7 acres of prime land in Raidurg to Hyderabad-based International Arbitration and Mediation Centre (IAMC), dealing a setback to the institution backed by former Chief Justice of India NV Ramana.A division bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and SVN Bhatti, while dismissing the special leave petition filed by IAMC, said it was not inclined to interfere with the high court's ruling. The IAMC was set up with the backing of Justice Ramana and was allotted the land free of cost by then Telangana govt in 2021.The high court order was passed in June 2025 by a division bench of Justices K Lakshman and K Sujana while hearing two public interest litigations challenging both the land allotment and the grant of Rs 3 crore as annual financial assistance by the previous BRS govt to the IAMC.Govt's undue hasteWhile setting aside the land allotment, the high court held that the state govt had acted with undue haste and violated provisions of the Telangana Land Revenue Act and the Andhra Pradesh Alienation of State Lands Rules, 1975, which require payment of market value when land is allotted to private entities.The bench, however, agreed that govts must promote institutional arbitration.At the same time, it expressed concern over the centre's performance, noting that of the 57 cases handled by IAMC, 17 were taken up on a pro bono basis.The high court also observed that while the govt, as a matter of policy, could extend financial assistance to a new institution like IAMC, such support to a private arbitral body could not be perpetual. It ruled that the abysmally low caseload raised serious concerns about IAMC's ability to sustain itself independently in the future.