Order directing Cosmo Club to pay Rs 25 cr in rent dues set aside
CHENNAI: The Madras HC set aside a single judge order directing the Cosmopolitan Club to pay Rs 25 crore to the State in rent dues.
“On what basis the single judge directed the Club to pay Rs 25 crore as a condition precedent, even for issuance of a fresh show-cause notice to conduct a comprehensive enquiry and decide the actual arrears of rent for the relevant period is not known,” wrote a division bench comprising Justices R Suresh Kumar and G Arul Murugan.
According to the GO 33 of 2009, the lease rent can be revised only by the government. “The fixation or revision of the lease rent is the jurisdiction of the government. It cannot be encroached upon by any authority, much less the officials of the revenue department like commissioner of land administration and district collector or tahsildar,” read the judgment.
The bench held that the single judge order was erroneous and set it aside. Further, it also set aside the notice issued by the Mambalam-Guindy taluk in 2004. The Cosmopolitan Club filed an appeal before the HC seeking to set aside the order issued by the single judge in 2015.
In 1933, the State government had granted a license in favour of the Club to establish a golf course to the extent of 64.76 acres. Later, in 1956, the license was converted into a lease and extended the land to 77.37 acres by fixing the annual rent of Rs 15 per acre.
Ten years later, the rent was revised to Rs 5,800/year to the entire extent of land for a 30-year lease. When the lease agreement ended in 1996, the Club requested the State to extend it further.
In 2001, the State had considered the Club’s request to grant the lease jointly to the club and TN Golf Federation to promote the golf course on par with international standard. The Club objected to the constitution of a governing body with 15 members (representing all stakeholders) to administrate the golf course. Because of this, the State denied the Club’s request
Aggrieved by this, the Club went to court and got an injunction against the government.
In 2004, the tahsildar of Mambalam-Guindy sent a notice to the Club stating that it had failed to pay the rent between 1971 and 1996. Further, the tahsildar revised the rent and calculated that totally Rs 119.78 crore was pending.
When the Club approached the HC, in 2015, the single judge directed the Club to pay Rs 25 crore to issue fresh notice to decide the rent dues.