CHENNAI: The Madras Race Club received temporary relief from the Madras High Court on the issue of paying enhanced rental for the leased land, on Wednesday. The first bench of Acting Chief Justice T Raja and Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy ordered status quo against the order by a single judge who directed MRC to pay the revised rent of Rs 731 crore in a month or face eviction.
Since the appeal filed against the single judge’s order has to be dealt with elaborately, the bench posted the matter to June 3. The MRC preferred the appeal challenging the single judge’s (Justice SM Subramaniam) order dismissing its petition seeking to quash the demand notice issued by the revenue authorities for immediate payment of Rs 160 crore revised rent.
MRC was given 160 acres of land for 99 years lease in 1946 and the rent was revised in 1970. The revenue department in August, 2017, directed MRC to pay Rs 731 crore revised rent for the period from 1945 to 2044.