The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : “State can resume lands leased out to Agri-Horticultural Society”

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Tamil Nadu

“State can resume lands leased out to Agri-Horticultural Society”

Special Correspondent

Sub-lease in favour of hotel is illegal, says High Court

Bench unable to accept respondents’ plea attributing malafides to government’s actions
Respondent was making use of the government lands for his personal use

CHENNAI: The government has got power to resume the lands leased out to the Agri-Horticultural Society on Cathedral Road here, the Madras High Court has said.

The government was the absolute owner of the lands and therefore it had the power to resume the lands, including the lands in the occupation of the Woodlands Drive-in Restaurant and also recover the rents paid to the society from the date of such unauthorised sub-lease. The sub-lease in favour of the hotel itself was illegal, the court said.

Allowing writ appeals by the government, a Division Bench comprising Justices Elipe Dharma Rao and M.Venugopal said the government was entitled to resume the land not only for the stated public purpose but also because of violation of conditions by the society, such as usage of the land for running the personal business of V. Krishnamurthy, the society’s honorary secretary, and for subletting the property to the hotel without permission from the government.

The Bench said that when once it held that the resumption was valid, automatically the sublettee was also liable for vacating the premises. Therefore, the Bench directed the government to resume the total extent, including the land given on subletting, except, of course, the lands owned by the society, having been purchased by them under valid sale deeds.

By a G.O. in August 1989, the government ordered resumption of the lands leased out to the society, together with the trees, plants and superstructures, if any, for public purposes. The District Registrar of Societies issued a show-cause notice regarding nine charges mentioned therein. All these were challenged through writ petitions in which Mr. Krishnamurthy said that he was a family friend of All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam general secretary Jayalalithaa and also a relative of K.K.S.S.R. Ramachandran, former Minister in the AIADMK Cabinet. Hence, the proceedings were initiated by the DMK government only as a political vendetta. A single Judge allowed the petitions.

Aggrieved, the government preferred the appeals.

The Bench said Mr.Ramachandran had joined the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and was a Minister in the present government. Therefore, the political vendetta pleaded by the respondents was no more a good ground for them. The Bench said that on a scrutiny of the entire material placed on record, it was unable to accept the respondents’ plea attributing malafides to the government’s actions. There was no doubt that the government was the owner of the lands. When the government in the capacity of owner of the lands, required them for the stated public purpose and had also found misuse of the lease by the allottee, the Bench said it could not find fault with the actions of the government.

The Bench said it was clear that Mr.Krishnamurthy was making use of the government lands for his personal use and enjoying the vast extent of land situated in the heart of the city, for his personal gains, without paying any single pie to the government. Therefore, the government was also entitled to recover the amounts derived by Mr. Krishnamurthy by illegally making use of the government lands for his personal gains.

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