The Docket of the Hotel Sultan Land Dispute to be Executed Tomorrow
The land dispute over the Hotel Sultan, located in the Gelora Bung Karno (GBK) complex in Central Jakarta, between the government and PT Indobuildco is entering a new chapter. The Central Jakarta District Court has scheduled the eviction execution of Block 15 GBK, the former Hotel Sultan area, for Thursday (18/6).
The dispute escalated when the term of the Building Use Rights (HGB), registered as HGB No. 26/Gelora and HGB No. 27/Gelora, was declared expired as of March 2023. Following this, the government, through the Ministry of State Secretariat and the Gelora Bung Karno Complex Management Centre (PPK GBK), requested PT Indobuildco to vacate the Hotel Sultan land. However, this request was ignored, and PPKGBK repeatedly sent letters to PT Indobuildco urging immediate vacation, which went unanswered.
By October 2023, PPKGBK installed banners as part of the eviction effort. The banner stated: ‘This Land is a State Asset Owned by the Government of the Republic of Indonesia Based on HPL No.1/Gelora in the name of the State Secretariat of the Republic of Indonesia c.q. PPKGBK and has been declared legal by the Supreme Court Judicial Review Decision No. 276/PK/Pdt/2011’. The eviction was also part of the takeover of Block 15 of the GBK complex based on a legally binding Supreme Court ruling.
Subsequently, PT Indobuildco filed a lawsuit against the Minister of State Secretariat regarding the ownership of the Hotel Sultan, which it claimed stood on state land legally granted through HGB, at the Central Jakarta District Court. Through two cases, numbers 208/PDT.G/2025/PN.JKT.PST. and 287/PDT.G/2025/PN.JKT.PST, Presiding Judge Guse Prayudi declared the state as the legal owner of the land and the Hotel Sultan within the GBK complex. The panel of judges ruled that the Hotel Sultan’s HGB had been null and void by law since 2023, and PT Indobuildco was obliged to vacate the entire Hotel Sultan area, both land and buildings, with a ruling that could be executed immediately (uitvoerbaar bij voorraad). Meanwhile, through Case 287, PT Indobuildco was ordered to pay royalties for the use of the HPL land for the period 2007-2023 amounting to US$45,356,473, to be converted to rupiah upon payment.
On the other hand, the Jakarta Administrative Court granted a lawsuit by PT Indobuildco against the Minister of State Secretariat concerning the Hotel Sultan land. In its ruling, the judge annulled the eviction order for the Hotel Sultan area and cancelled the royalty bill of US$45 million for the use of the HPL land from 2007 to 2023. This ruling was contained in Case Number 221/G/2025/PTUN.JKT, read out via e-Court on Wednesday (3/12). Nevertheless, the administrative court ruling did not hinder the government’s efforts to take over the Hotel Sultan land, as it was deemed not to affect the civil court’s decision regarding the eviction execution.
In short, on 16 March, the Central Jakarta District Court had also carried out a constatering, or matching of the dispute object’s data, as a follow-up to the planned execution of the Hotel Sultan land. Despite this, PT Indobuildco continued to reject the execution plan. PT Indobuildco’s legal counsel, Hamdan Zoelva, stated that forcing the execution would cause various problems. Hamdan argued that the claim that execution is the final stage oversimplifies the legal issue, as on the land there is a hotel building, business activities, workers, tenants, vendors, and third-party rights that cannot be ignored. ‘What must be understood is that the dispute is over the land, not the building and not the hotel business. The Hotel Sultan business is absolutely owned by PT Indobuildco,’ Hamdan said in his statement on Wednesday (27/5). Now, the execution of the Hotel Sultan land is only a matter of time. If the execution on Thursday proceeds successfully, the Hotel Sultan land will subsequently be managed by the government.