CHENNAI: The Madras High Court directed the Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowments (HR and CE) department to initiate proceedings to evict the Queensland amusement park from 21 acres of land in Poonamallee belonging to Kasi Viswanathaswami temple and Venugopalaswami temple.
Disposing of a 2013 petition filed by Rajam Hotels Private Limited, which runs the Queensland amusement park, Justice M Sundar on Thursday ordered initiation of eviction and completion of the process in four weeks.
The petition was filed by J Joseph, manager of Rajam Hotels, seeking to quash a notice issued by the Tahsildar of Sriperumbudur taluk in 2013 demanding the park to pay Rs 1.08 crore as lease amount. The notice challenged the legal authority of the revenue department to issue demand notice because the said land was leased out by the HR and CE department, and a dispute between the two departments on title deed remained unresolved. Delay in issuing the notice, and the nature of the land – Anadheenam land – were also cited as grounds for quashing the notice, as the said land was in possession from 1995.
Government advocate NRR Arun Natarajan, appearing for HR and CE, contended by relying on section 116 of the Evidence Act, that a tenant cannot dispute the title of the landlord. It was further argued that the dispute between HR and CE and the revenue department will be settled between themselves. Queensland Resorts cannot take advantage of the same and they should be evicted. Moreover, Queensland is an encroacher after 1998 as the lease period lapsed, he said.
Accepting the submissions, the court dismissed the petition and ordered eviction. “The court directed the HR and CE department to initiate proceedings to evict Queensland and complete the process in four weeks,” Arun Natarajan said.