New Delhi: Shares of DLF plunged as much as 8.11 per cent on Thursday, after the Punjab and Haryana High Court set aside an order of Haryana government whereby it had transferred over 300 acres of land in Gurgaon to DLF.
At 10:43 am, DLF was trading 8.11 per cent lower at Rs 168.20.
This the second blow to DLF in the past week. The Supreme Court had on August 27 directed the company to deposit Rs 630 crore in its registry within three months, rejecting its request to stay the order of the Competition Commission of India (CCI) that had imposed the penalty over unfair trade practices.
A division bench of the high court, comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice Amol Rattan Singh, directed the Haryana government to conduct an auction of the land in question by inviting international bids within a month. However, DLF would be able to participate in the auction process.
The decision came on a set of petitions filed by farmers challenging the acquisition and transfer of the land to DLF, citing that it was village common land, the farmer's counsel said. The bench upheld the acquisition of the land by state-owned authorities but set aside the land transfer to DLF.
DLF, in August 2009, had bagged the 350-acre land for Rs 1,750 crore to develop a recreation and leisure project. The letter of acceptance was issued to DLF by the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure DevelopmentCorporation Ltd (HSIIDC) after the company emerged as the successful bidder. The court had in 2012 restrained DLF from carrying out any construction and from creating any third party rights.
(With Agency inputs)
