RS 730.86 crore rent due: Govt seals Madras Race Club, HC suspends action for two days

CHENNAI: In a day filled with high drama, the State government on Monday sealed the Madras Race Club for its failure to pay up the whopping rental arrears of Rs 731 crore, only to be castigated by the Madras High Court for the “illegal” and “high-handed” manner in which it tried to take over the 161-acre land leased to the club.

The court suspended the operation of the lock-and-seal notice for two days after Advocate General (AG) PS Raman submitted that the State would initiate separate proceedings to issue notice of lease termination and would evict the club only after giving sufficient time to vacate.

Hours later, the government made public the order that it had issued on September 6, two days after a division bench issued an interim order directing the State to terminate the lease agreement for failure to pay the rental arrears.

The drama started in the morning when a team of revenue and police officials sealed the premises. Wasting no time, the club’s legal team knocked the court’s door with an urgent motion. Appearing for the club, senior counsel AL Somayaji argued that taking over the land without issuing notice or prior intimation was against the Constitution.

“How can the State take possession of the premises without even communicating the lease termination order to the lessee,” asked a division bench of Justices SS Sundar and K Rajasekar and suspended the action for two days.

Senior counsel P Wilson, who appeared for the Revenue Department, said the lease was terminated considering the interest of the public and to set up facilities for the benefit of the public. But the bench was not satisfied and observed that a reasonable time should be given to the lessee to vacate from the land.