Bombay Burmah Moves Supreme Court To Remove Lease Rent Observations In Singampatti Tea Estate Case:

The Bombay Burmah Trading Corporation Ltd. has informed the stock exchanges that it has filed an interlocutory application before the Supreme Court seeking removal of certain observations related to lease rent in the Singampatti tea estate matter in Tamil Nadu.

The company said it had taken a 99-year lease of the Singampatti estate in 1929. In December 2023, it decided to stop plantation operations after finding the lease commercially unviable. Operations ended on June 16, 2024, and a Voluntary Retirement Scheme (VRS) was introduced for 534 workers. According to the company, all VRS dues have either been paid directly to the workers or deposited with the Assistant Commissioner of Labour for disbursement.

The closure of operations was challenged before the Madras High Court by some workers, but the High Court dismissed their petitions in December 2024. One of the workers later appealed before the Supreme Court.

The company stated that it handed over more than 8,152 acres of leased land to the Tamil Nadu Forest Department in May 2025. After removing machinery and demolishing factory buildings, it also handed over the remaining 221.44 acres on July 11, 2026.

In its order dated May 29, 2026, the Supreme Court noted the progress made in restoring the land and settling VRS payments. However, based on a report of the Central Empowered Committee (CEC), the order also mentioned that certain lease rentals remained recoverable by the State Government.

Bombay Burmah has argued that no official demand or notice for such lease rent has been issued to it and that the observations were based on an internal calculation prepared by a department that, according to the company, lacked jurisdiction. It has, therefore, requested the Supreme Court to recall and expunge those observations and said it will continue updating the stock exchanges on any significant developments.

The company has made the aforementioned disclosure vide an Intimation dated July 21, 2026, addressed to the National Stock Exchange of India Limited (NSE) and Bombay Stock Exchange Limited (BSE), under Regulation 30 of the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Listing Obligations and Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015.