Delhi High Court Says Final Relief Can Be Granted At Interim Stage If Strong Prima Facie Case Exists

The Delhi High Court has granted Asian Hotels North Limited what was effectively the final relief sought in a dispute over loan security documents by directing DBS Bank India Limited to release the original title deeds and other security documents of the Hyatt Regency Hotel.

The relief was made conditional on Asian Hotels depositing Exclusive Capital Limited's entire disputed claim of ₹159.66 crore with the court, thereby securing its monetary claim pending adjudication.

Exempting Asian Hotels from mandatory pre-institution mediation in view of the urgency arising from its ₹300 crore financing, the Court held that interim relief may, in exceptional cases, amount to granting the final relief itself.

Justice Vikas Mahajan observed, "Under certain circumstances the court may grant an interim relief though it amounts to granting the final relief itself. The law in this regard is well settled that where very strong prima facie case is shown to exist, besides the balance of convenience and irreparable injury forcefully tilting the balance of the case totally in favour of the applicant, such a relief can be granted. The court would grant such an interim relief only if satisfied that withholding of it would prick the conscience of the court and do violence to the sense of justice, resulting in injustice being perpetuated throughout the hearing, and at the end the court would not be able to vindicate the cause of justice."

In the present case, the court found that continued withholding of the title deeds directly threatened Asian Hotels' existing debt facilities, its ability to avail credit facilities in the future and could potentially disrupt its day-to-day business operations.

Granting the relief, it observed, "The continuous withholding of the title deeds thus, directly imperils the existing debt facilities, as well as the plaintiff's ability to avail credit facilities in future in the absence of such title deeds, which is likely to paralyze the daily operations of the plaintiff as a business entity. Thus, the injury complained of is immediate and pressing and would cause extreme hardship and irreparable loss to the plaintiff, if the interim relief as prayed is not granted."

The dispute concerns the original title deeds of the Hyatt Regency Hotel at Bhikaji Cama Place, New Delhi.

Asian Hotels had deposited the title deeds as security for loans from DBS Singapore in 2010 and later obtained further credit facilities from IndusInd Bank.

The debt was assigned to Exclusive Capital in December 2022. After it allegedly defaulted on a ₹60 crore loan from Clover Media, the debt was assigned to VSJ Investments, which the Delhi High Court later recognised as the substituted lender.

Asian Hotels settled the debt with VSJ Investments for ₹70 crore and obtained a no-dues certificate, while the Registrar of Companies recorded satisfaction of the charge. Exclusive Capital, however, disputed the assignment, claimed ₹159.66 crore and filed a suit challenging the Inter-Corporate Loan Agreement.

In that suit, the High Court directed DBS Bank to retain the title deeds. After its appeal failed, Asian Hotels filed the present suit, arguing that withholding the documents jeopardised its ₹300 crore financing. It also offered to deposit Exclusive Capital's entire claim with the Court, while Exclusive Capital argued that releasing the deeds would effectively grant the final relief sought.

The court found that the forgery allegation was prima facie weakened by Exclusive Capital's own correspondence showing that the Inter-Corporate Loan Agreement had been acted upon.

On interim relief, the court observed, "The court would grant such an interim relief only if satisfied that withholding of it would prick the conscience of the court and do violence to the sense of justice, resulting in injustice being perpetuated throughout the hearing, and at the end the court would not be able to vindicate the cause of justice."

The court also noted that Exclusive Capital's claim was purely monetary and that it asserted no ownership or possessory interest in the Hyatt Regency property. Since Asian Hotels offered to deposit the entire disputed amount with the court, the court held that Exclusive Capital's interest could be adequately protected while the title deeds were released.

The court exempted Asian Hotels from pre-institution mediation under Section 12A of the Commercial Courts Act, citing the urgency arising from its ₹300 crore financing.

It directed the company to deposit ₹159.66 crore with the Registrar General within four weeks, following which DBS Bank must release the title deeds within one week. The court also vacated its January 7, 2026, order directing the bank to retain the documents.

For Asian Hotels North Limited: Senior Advocates Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Rajiv Nayar and Jayant Mehta, with Advocates Sidhant Kumar, Akshit Mago, Ekssha Kashyap, Moomal Joshi, Amita Gupta, Kamakshi Puri, Karan and Neharika Chhabra.

For Exclusive Capital Limited: Senior Advocate Sudhir Nandrajog, with Advocates Apoorv Agarwal, Manav Goyal, Ritika Gusain, Amrita Sony, Ankita Singh and Madhur Dhingra.

For DBS Bank India Limited: Senior Advocate Kunal Tandon, with Advocates Chetan Roy, Prakhar, Natasha and Shreni.

For Clover Media Private Limited: Advocate Annirudh Sharma.

For VSJ Investments Private Limited: Senior Advocate Sumeet Pushkarna, with Advocates Devika Mohan, Cyril Ignatious and Dhruv Negi.