The Bombay High Court today imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh on Hotel Leela Venture Limited for forum-hunting by seeking that their pleas, challenging eviction proceedings initiated against it by the Airports Authority of India (AAI), be heard by a single judge bench.
The AAI had, in February last year, issued an eviction notice to Hotel Leela Venture, which runs a five-star hotel near the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, for non- payment of dues.

The Airports Authority initiated the procedure to evict the hotel and reclaim 29,000 sq m land it stands on for non-payment of dues and flouting other terms of agreements. The hotel company had then filed two petitions in high court -- one challenging the notice and the other against the eviction proceedings.