Kerala - Kochi   

Golf club: order upheld

Kochi: A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court on Monday upheld the government order terminating the licence agreement of the Trivandrum Golf Club.

The Bench of Justice Pius C. Kuriakose and Justice S.S. Satheesachandran upheld the order while dismissing an appeal filed by the secretary of the golf club against a sub-court order rejecting its plea for an interim injunction restraining the government from taking over the property and buildings of the club and evicting its members from the premises.

The court said that it was prima facie satisfied that the order of termination was based on justifiable grounds.

The Bench granted the golf club office-bearers four weeks to remove the goods kept on the premises and held that the government was at liberty to evict them if they did not vacate in four weeks.

The court said the club had no right to contend that the licence was irrevocable. The court said the club was a trespasser after the termination of the licence and no indulgence was called for. The Bench pointed that litigations had stalled the resumption of the club even after the revocation of the licence. The court recorded an assurance given by Additional Advocate-General Ranjith Thampan that after the takeover, the club would be entrusted to the Kerala Sport Council and that its facilities would be made available to all classes of people. The court said that it did not find any reason to doubt the submission of the Additional Advocate-General that the club would be preserved.

The court found force in the argument of the Additional Advocate-General that the club had opened a bar on its premises without the sanction of the government. It was started after making some modification in the heritage building of the club.

The court rejected the contention of the appellant that the Revenue Principal Secretary who heard the hearing on the notice had acted in a biased manner. The government contended that the licence was revoked also because the club's property was rented out for private functions and that the proceeds benefited the club's office-bearers.

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