TENKASI: A town panchayat chairperson in TN, whose husband openly claimed that they had spent Rs 2 crore to get that position, has been removed from the post for failing to pay a property tax due of Rs 6,400 for her eight commercial and residential buildings within the stipulated period in 2022-23.
The Municipal Administration Department has also removed M Sudha, chairperson of Alangulam town panchayat, from her councillor’s post for dereliction of duty based on a Madras HC order.
When TNIE reached out to Sudha, her husband Mohanlal answered the call. “Sudha had not received any property tax notices. Some officials forged her signature to show that she had received them. We spent Rs 2 crore to get the chairperson’s post, can we not spend around Rs 5,000 for property tax,” he asked.
AIADMK councillor had filed complaint
He also added that his wife had filed a petition before the HC on Wednesday. Sudha, who was elected from ward 7 on a DMK ticket, did not pay the tax for any of the eight properties in the first half-year of 2022-23, and she had also failed to make payments for seven of the eight buildings in the second half-year.
In 2023, ward 9 AIADMK councillor Subash Chandrabose lodged a complaint with the Tamil Nadu Local Bodies Ombudsman, seeking action against her.
Sudha later cleared the tax dues after a delay of five months. However, in November 2023, the Ombudsman instructed the Director of Town Panchayats to disqualify the DMK chairperson for dereliction of duty. In her reply, Sudha attributed the delay to the hike in property tax, which was ironically introduced by her own administration.
