CHENNAI: Tamil Nadu government has informed the Madras High Court that Rs 136.44 crore lease, rent has been waived for occupants of shopping complexes run by civic bodies across the state for the total lockdown period. The submission was made by Additional Advocate General (AAG) V Arun before Justice R Suresh Kumar recently when a contempt petition in this regard came up for hearing.
The AAG said the government issued the GO on June 16, 2023 providing for a waiver of lease/rent amount of Rs 136.44 crore for the lockdown period from June to August 2020 and May to June 2021. The lessees in respect of leased properties of urban local bodies covering the municipal corporations and town panchayats can avail of the waiver subject to the condition that those shops were actually closed.
Moreover, the benefit will be extended to only those tenants who do not have rental arrears and dues to local bodies. Accepting the submission, the judge closed the contempt petition which was filed by Ponnusamy of Namakkal. He moved the contempt petition after the government did not effect the waiver as per a single judge’s order.