The Bombay High Court has set aside the arbitration order in the Tulip Star Hotel case, paving the way for development of the land parcel by real estate company Siddhivinayak Realties — a JV between Oberoi Realty, and founders of DB Realty Shahid Balwa and Vinod Goenka. The property, which was earlier known as the Centaur Hotel, was acquired by Ajit Kerkar, former head of Indian Hotels, and the Tulip Group from Air India's subsidiary,
Hotel Corporation of India, when it was privatised by the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government.
However, a Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry was launched, following allegations of corruption in the sale process later. In 2005, Siddhivinayak Realties had agreed to purchase the hotel from Ajit Kerkar-controlled V Hotels for around Rs 300 crore. Following this, the company had submitted Rs 73 crore to Tulip, along with Rs 2 crore in an escrow account. In July 2011,
an arbitration panel ruled against Siddhivinayak Realties and asked V Hotels to refund the Rs 73-crore payment to Siddhivinayak Realties within 90 days. Siddhivinayak challenged this arbitration award, while V Hotel's contention was that there were concrete grounds on which the arbitrator had allowed termination of the agreement.