Supreme Court Upholds Cancellation Of Free Land Allotment For International Arbitration & Mediation Centre

A bench of Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice SVN Bhatti rejected the special leave petitions filed by IAMC against the judgment.

“We are not inclined to interfere with the impugned judgment(s) and order(s) of the High Court; hence, the special leave petitions are dismissed”, the Court held.

Earlier, Justice Satish Chandra Sharma had recused himself from hearing the plea.

The Telangana High Court had in June 2025 struck down the State Government's decision to allot land of significant market value in Hyderabad, free of cost, to IAMC. The IAMC was set up in 2021 when Justice NV Ramana was the Chief Justice of India.

The High Court had set aside G.O. Ms. No. 126 dated December 26, 2021, by which the land in Raidurg village, Ranga Reddy District was allotted to IAMC. The High Court held that matters involving allotment and distribution of State largesse cannot be done free of cost and that governments must ensure adequate compensation when parting with natural resources held in public trust, unless the allotment is for a greater public purpose and in favour of a non-profit institution.

While setting aside the land allotment, the High Court upheld the grant of Rs. 3 crores as financial assistance to IAMC and the State's decision directing its departments and public sector undertakings to refer disputes above Rs. 3 crores to IAMC for arbitration, holding both to be policy decisions.

Case no. – Special Leave Petition (Civil) Diary No. 67000/2025

Case Title – The International Arbitration and Mediation Centre v. Koti Raghunatha Rao & Ors.