The Campus Can Be Conveyed. The 10.56 Lakh Sq Ft Ceiling Goes With It.
Huawei sued to turn its perpetual lease of 15.5 acres in Whitefield into full ownership, with every square foot of floor area it could use. The Chief Justice's bench has given it the land, with a cap.
The Court held that a plain and harmonious reading of the 2005 perpetual lease binds Huawei to the limit of 10,56,000 sq ft of super built-up area. The developer was free to use the land's floor area elsewhere in the larger project; it could not have been agreed that it must later restore that area. The landowners and developer must execute and register the sale deed, subject to the cap.
- Conveyance, yes; extra floor area, no. The decree was modified, not reversed.
- Read the contract as a whole — one overriding clause did not erase the built-up limit.
- Unused floor area is not automatically the buyer's in an integrated township.
- About 80,000 sq ft remains for Huawei to build within the cap.
- Court
- High Court of Karnataka at Bengaluru
- Bench
- Justice CHIEF JUSTICE, Justice C.M. POONACHA
- Citation
- COMAP No. 483 of 2025
- Case
- COMAP No. 483 of 2025
- Decided
- 3 September 2026
- Outcome
- Commercial appeal allowed; decree modified to cap construction at 10,56,000 sq ft
The deal
A developer assembled about 72 acres in Kundalahalli, near Whitefield, from two groups of landowners and its own holdings, for an integrated technology park. Huawei's letter of intent recorded its interest in developing about 10,56,000 sq ft of super built-up area on about 20 acres.
A permanent perpetual lease was executed in October 2005 for about 15.5 acres. One clause provided that Huawei would acquire absolute ownership after 12 years.
Huawei sued in the Commercial Court for a sale deed, bifurcation of the khata, a declaration that the developer could not use the land's floor area, and an injunction. The Commercial Court decreed in its favour in June 2025, holding that the developer had not proved it had used all the floor area.
How the High Court read the lease
The central question was whether Huawei's rights were limited to 10,56,000 sq ft of super built-up area, whatever the floor area ratio available on its land.
The developer's witness stated that the development plan had used almost all the permissible floor area across the larger property. Huawei had built 9,76,207 sq ft, leaving 79,793 sq ft within the cap.
If the developer had used the land's floor area on adjoining parcels beyond the cap — as the lease permitted — Huawei's case would require it to demolish that construction to restore the area. That, the Court said, was plainly not the agreement. A plain and harmonious reading of the lease bound Huawei to the limit.
The decree as modified
The landowners, acting through the developer, and the developer must execute and register a sale deed in Huawei's favour for the land, subject to the condition that Huawei may not build beyond 10,56,000 sq ft of super built-up area.
Huawei is entitled to have its ownership recorded in the land records. Its other prayers were rejected, and the appeal was allowed.
Who argued it
Appearances as recorded in the judgment of the Court.
Frequently asked
Does a perpetual lease with an ownership clause give full development rights?
Not necessarily. Here the Court held the built-up cap in the lease survived the conveyance.
Can a developer use a buyer's floor area elsewhere in the project?
Where the lease allows it, yes — and the buyer cannot demand it back.
Converting a long lease into ownership
- Read every clause limiting built-up area alongside the ownership clause; courts harmonise them.
- In an integrated project, ask who owns floor area not yet used.
- Keep the letter of intent and early agreements; they explain the bargain even if superseded.
- Seek mutation in land records as part of the same relief.
Source. High Court of Karnataka at Bengaluru, COMAP No. 483 of 2025, decided 3 September 2026 by Justice CHIEF JUSTICE, Justice C.M. POONACHA. This explainer is written from the judgment text as reported.
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