State, TTDC prefer appeals against Single Bench orders in SRM Hotel row
The Hindu
The State government and the Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation (TTDC) have filed appeals before the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court against two orders of a Single Bench that granted relief to SRM Hotel in Tiruchi.
The State government and the Tamil Nadu Tourism Development Corporation (TTDC) have filed appeals before the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court against two orders of a Single Bench that granted relief to SRM Hotel in Tiruchi.
A Division Bench of Justices R. Suresh Kumar and G. Arul Murugan will continue to hear the matter on July 30.
The authorities had attempted to take possession of the hotel on June 14 following the expiry of the hotel’s 30-year lease agreement with the TTDC. The hotel management had filed two petitions before the Single Bench seeking relief. One of the petitions sought a direction to restrain the authorities from evicting the hotel management from the premises and the other challenged the order passed by the authorities rejecting their request for renewal of the lease.
The Single Bench had observed that the conduct of the district administration and the police in entering the premises and taking possession in the forenoon of June 14 could only be characterised as height of arbitrariness and illegality. The authorities ought to have followed due process of law, the court had said.
It had further observed that when it came to the conclusion that the authorities had acted illegally, it was its duty to put the clock back and restore the status quo ante.
With regard to the second petition, the Single Bench had observed that the petitioner should have been given an opportunity to demonstrate that they and not the TTDC were better equipped to run the hotel. The petitioner was not invited for a discussion, the court had observed and set aside the order passed by the authorities and remitted the matter to the authorities to grant personal hearing to the petitioner, consider all the contentions and pass a speaking order on merits.
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