The Madras High Court on Monday (September 9, 2024) agreed to hear on the same day the cases related to the State government terminating the 1945-lease granted to the Madras Race Club (MRC) with respect to 160.86 acres of land at Guindy in Chennai, after the latter complained that revenue officials descended with a huge posse of police personnel on Monday morning, wanting to take possession of the land.
Appearing before the second Division Bench of Justices S.S. Sundar and K. Rajasekar, advocate Vaibhav R. Venkatesh said the MRC had taken the land on a 99-year lease since 1945 and that it could not be deprived of the property in such an “undemocratic” manner, especially when a writ appeal related to rental arrears was pending before the Bench and the latter had ordered the maintenance of status quo.
The lawyer said the officials had taken advantage of an interim order passed by the Division Bench on September 4 when it was clarified that the status quo was only with respect to the issue of rental arrears and that the State government could terminate the lease if it was permissible by law. He said the order had been misconstrued to the extent of taking possession of the property without notice.
On September 4, the Bench had made it clear that “this clarification need not be taken as a direction, since this court only clarifies the scope of the interim order. This order is without prejudice to the contentions or legal issues that may be raised by the appellant, in case the lease is terminated. It is also made clear that this court has neither heard the parties nor has expressed its opinion on the right of the respondents to terminate the lease as per the terms and conditions of the lease deed.”
Though the court order was very clear that even if the officials were particular about terminating the lease, it could be done only by following the due process of law, they had gone about issuing a Government Order (G.O.) on September 6 terminating the lease and instructing the Chennai Collector to take possession of the lands forthwith, the counsel complained.
Mr. Venkatesh said, the officials could not suddenly take possession of the property, which housed many horses that had to be fed regularly. He requested for an urgent hearing of MRC’s writ appeal by Monday afternoon. The Bench led by Justice Sundar agreed to hear the appeal at 1:30 pm after wondering how the termination of the lease and taking possession of the land could happen simultaneously.
Separate case
Simultaneously, advocate Nithyaesh Natraj made a mention before Justice R.M.T. Teekaa Raman of the High Court seeking permission to move an urgent civil suit challenging the termination of the lease. The judge accepted his request and agreed to hear the suit by 3 pm on Monday.
Published - September 09, 2024 11:58 am IST
