HC dismisses plea of Sankranthi Hotels

The Madras High Court today dismissed a hotel MD's plea seeking direction to state Housing and Urban Development Secretary to consider his appeal against sealing and deoccupation notice issued by Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority alleging violations.
The notice issued on October 26 last year had asked Sankranti Hotels Private Limited to secure compliance with the approved plan within 30 days, failing which the building would be locked and sealed.
Dismissing the plea, a division bench comprising justices Satish K Agnihotri and K K Sasidharan observed that though there were stringent provisions under Tamil Nadu Town and Country Planning Act to discourage construction of unauthorised buildings, builders continue to flout building regulations with impunity.

The hotelier had entered into a lease agreement with T Praveena on February 11, 2011 to start a hotel in the building constructed on T T K Road, Alwarpet here. The building comprising stilt and five floors with a terrace was constructed on the basis of a permit issued by CMDA.
The Chennai corporation issued a notice in July that year informing the management and the leaser that the building was constructed in total deviation of the approved plan and asked them to stop construction work with immediate effect.
During arbitration proceedings between the leaser and the hotelier, the Arbitrator passed an award to deliver possession of the building on or before June 30 this year to the leaser which was challenged by the hotelier in Andhra Pradesh High Court.

Meanwhile, CMDA issued locking and sealing and deoccupation notice indicating the violations.

The bench said the hotelier claimed that the company is a member of a chain running hotels in Dubai and Singapore failed to take reasonable care to verify the plan sanctioned by CMDA or completion certificate.
It rejected the contention that Rs 5.40 crore was incurred for interior decoration work, saying CMDA was only concerned with enforcement of building regulations.
The leaser has clearly admitted the violations and she wanted the hotelier to vacate so as to enable her to comply with the direction given by CMDA, it said.

CMDA has nothing to do with the dispute between hotelier and the leaser. "Since government is not having jurisdiction to entertain a petition against a notice issued under The Town and Country Planning act, there is no question of directing government to consider the matter at the instance of the occupier," it said.