MADURAI: The Madurai Bench of Madras High Court on Thursday ordered status quo against the steps taken by the Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation (TTDC) for the upgradation and maintenance of Hotel Tamil Nadu Unit-II (erstwhile SRM Hotels) in Tiruchy.
Hearing a petition filed by the SRM Hotels Private Limited, Justice Krishnan Ramasamy further appointed two advocate commissioners to take inventory of the movable properties of SRM in the above hotel, which was taken over by the TTDC last year due to the expiry of 30 years lease period and arrears of lease amount.
SRM Hotels, represented by its executive director D Anthony Ashok Kumar, filed the petition seeking direction to take inventory of the above properties and hand them over to their company.
The case was adjourned to March 17 for the filing of the inventory report.
In August 2025, the high court permitted TTDC to take over the land and the hotel, adding that SRM is bound to pay the outstanding lease amount of Rs 38.85 crore.
A special leave petition against the said order was also dismissed by the Supreme Court in October , following which the authorities sealed the hotel and later renamed it as Hotel Tamil Nadu Tiruchy Unit -II.
But SRM Hotels claimed that its movable properties, worth several crores, are still within the hotel premises.
Without giving them an opportunity to retrieve the properties, the TTDC has issued a request for proposal (RFP) for the selection of a concessionaire for upgradation in PPP mode (Public-Private Partnership) on January 28, the petitioner added.
Alleging that TTDC has not responded to SRM’s request to grant 10 days time to retrieve the said assets, the petitioner sought directions to forbear TTDC from proceeding with the RFP.