GCDA not to readmit tenants with rent arrears to stadium shops

Lessees mull moving court after GCDA Chairman stands firm

Shops at the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium, which were shut ahead of the Under-17 FIFA World Cup, are yet to be handed back to tenants.

Cracking the whip on tenants of the commercial complex in the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium who dragged it to the court over their temporary evacuation ahead of the recently concluded FIFA Under-17 World Cup, the Greater Cochin Development Authority (GCDA) has decided not to readmit those tenants who have run up rent arrears of over three months.

Those who run their business from shops originally allotted to someone else and was subsequently sub-leased may also find it hard to get the shops back. However, 32 tenants who have no outstanding rent arrears and have the documents, including a valid lease agreement in place, will be readmitted from Wednesday onwards.

A section of tenants had petitioned the High Court against the GCDA’s notice to vacate the shops for a month as part of the security protocol for the global event. Though the court observed the decision as arbitrary, it stopped short of striking it down, considering the significance of the event, and instead asked the GCDA to close the business establishments after depositing ₹25 lakh in the district treasury in a separate account to be paid as compensation to tenants.

Representatives of tenants, who met GCDA Chairman C.N. Mohanan on Tuesday with a request to let them resume their business, were told that no leniency would be shown towards those who had arrears of over three months and would have to clear it in full before being readmitted. Obviously, a memorandum submitted by the tenants to let them back into their shops in view of the general downturn in business and the plight of the employees engaged by the firms on account of the continuing lockdown of the shops cut no ice with the Chairman.

He had reportedly stated that the GCDA could not afford to forgo the rent, which was its primary source of revenue to run its affairs and pay its employees, and declined to make any concession both in terms of the amount to be paid or the time to make that payment. Clear the dues and get the shop back, was the unequivocal message. Reportedly, the GCDA has also decided to accept the arrears only after securing a legal opinion and filing an affidavit in the court. Later, District Collector K. Mohammed Y. Safirulla confirmed that shops of those who had no rent arrears and with valid lease agreement would be opened from Wednesday. GCDA authorities were not available for comment.

The affected tenants are now mulling approaching the court again, citing that the court had clearly stated that the shops should be returned to them without any preconditions as soon as the global event was over.