The Tamil Nadu government has terminated the lease of Madras Race Club—a well known landmark in Chennai city–and took possession of the land. The Madras Race Club has been holding 148.32 acres of land since 1946 after it was leased for the purpose of recreational activities such as horse-racing, games, and sports. According to reports, the club had pending rent arrear of Rs 730 crore.
A series of dramatic events transpired on September 9, after the revenue department sealed the 148-acre race club premises. Following an emergency hearing at the Madras High Court, the Tamil Nadu government agreed to take possession of the land after issuing fresh notices to the race club authorities.
The race club had previously challenged the matter of arrears at the Madras High Court. According to reports, the race club was granted a lease of 99 years in 1945 for Rs 614.13 per year. The state made an attempt to hike the rent in 1970 but the race club responded saying that the 1945 lease had no clause regarding a rent hike. The government had demanded arrears amounting to Rs 730.86 crore upto 2017.
Earlier in September, the court had in its interim orders reportedly said that while the state government had the right to terminate the lease within the constraints of the law, status quo must be maintained until the case is fully heard.
However, according to reports, the revenue department had on September 6, issued a government order (GO) notifying the race club authorities that the 99-year lease, granted in 1945, had been terminated. Further, without allowing for any time to move private property and despite the matter remaining pending in court, revenue officials reportedly arrived at the race club on September 9 morning with a large contingent of police and sealed the premises.
The race club appealed for an emergency hearing and was heard by a Division Bench comprising Justices SS Sundar and K Rajasekar. The state government has now told the court that it will take possession of the land only after issuing fresh notices to the race club authorities.
The total land that was leased to the race club is 160 acres. Of this, the race club premises itself occupy 148 acres, while 4.90 acres were later given to the aquatic complex, 3.86 acres to the Tamil Nadu Urban Habitat Development Board (TNUBD) and about 3.78 acres were demarcated for public roads, as per reports.
According to a TNIE report, the Niligirs district administration recently took back 52.34 acres of land that the Madras race club had taken on lease in Udhagamandalam West Village after they failed to pay Rs 822 crore in rent arrears. The race club had then challenged the rent amount in the Madras High Court and lost.