The State government has decided to lease out the property of Aspinwall at Fort Kochi to the Kochi Biennale Foundation for its biennial art event Kochi-Muziris Biennale.
The 1.29-acre holding at Fort Kochi will be given on lease for four months every two years.
The government has decided to collect ₹2 lakh as monthly lease from the Foundation for using the land. Also, the lease amount will be hiked by 10% annually. The decisions were taken at the meeting of the State Cabinet held on Wednesday.
The government decision puts an end to the long-standing legal battle on the land and attempts to gain exclusive access to the property by some quarters.
Originally, the 1.29-acre holding had been leased out to Aspinwall and Company Ltd. for a period of 50 years. Though the lease period expired way back in 1987, the property remained in the hands of the company and no efforts were made to recover it.
Later, the property reached the hands of a private firm when it purchased the properties of Aspinwall. The leased land was also thus transferred to the firm.
The issue of ownership of the property surfaced when a campaign for recovering the high-value government land in Fort Kochi began in the area.
The campaign, led by Dr. Adeela Rabeeh Abdulla in 2016, the then Fort Kochi Sub Collector, succeeded in recovering around six acres of the priced holding for the government.
Later, Revenue officials took a stand against handing over the holding to the Kochi Biennale Foundation.
“If the property was handed over to the Foundation, it would have denied other organisations and general public access to the holding. By giving the property on lease, the property remains with the government and other organisations too can use it. The decision will also earn the government revenue,” said an official.
