Supreme Court upholds Telangana High Court decision that free allotment of land to IAMC is ‘unsustainable’

Supreme Court upholds Telangana High Court ruling, deeming free land allotment to IAMC unsustainable and procedurally flawed.

The Supreme Court has refused to intervene in a Telangana High Court judgment which set aside the free-of-cost allotment of land to the International Arbitration & Mediation Centre (IAMC), an institution whose deed was authored by the then Chief Justice of India in 2021.

A Bench of Justices Dipankar Datta agreed with the High Court that gratuitous distribution of natural resources was both “unsustainable and contrary to the procedure”.

Dismissing the special leave petitions filed by the IAMC against the High Court decision of June 2025, the Supreme Court simply said in a short order, “we are not inclined to interfere with the impugned judgment(s) and order(s) of the High Court”.

The Telangana government had argued in the High Court that the IAMC was a public charitable trust created to promote institutional arbitration in India. It was India’s answer to the Singapore International Arbitration Centre, the London Court of International Arbitration or the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre, the State government said. A Memorandum of Understanding had been entered into between the State and the IAMC, whereby it was agreed that the State would support the IAMC by allotting land.

The State had highlighted that the board of trustees included Supreme Court Judges and the Chief Minister and Law Minister of Telangana. The State had contended in the High Court that the budgetary allotment by the Telangana government was transparent.

“Matters involving allotment and distribution of state largesse cannot be done free of cost. Governments shall ensure that they are adequately compensated for parting with natural resources vested in them and held by them in public trust. Unless the purpose of allotment is greater and such allotment is to an institution or person who earns no profit, free allotment of government largesse cannot be justified… The allotment of subject land free of cost to the IAMC is unsustainable and contrary to procedure,” a Division Bench of the High Court had concluded.