The University of Kerala has decided to explore legal options over the alleged non-payment of dues worth around ₹9 crore by the National Games Secretariat for the land leased out for the Greenfield stadium at Karyavattom.
The University of Kerala has taken a critical view of the purported non-compliance with the agreement that had been entered upon at the time of leasing out 37 acres of land for the construction of the stadium in December 2012.
Having defaulted payment of lease rent for the last three years, the lessee was yet to pay outstanding dues amounting to ₹8.63 crore, according to university officials.
Lease agreement
Under the lease agreement that was arrived at between the two parties, the annual lease rent had been initially fixed at ₹94 lakh excluding the applicable tax.
The rent was later revised to ₹3.14 crore per annum from 2016 onwards.
The National Games Secretariat had remitted an amount of ₹1.05 crore, including service tax, each during the first two years.
Moves taken
An amount of around ₹82.56 lakh had been remitted towards partial lease rent in 2015.
Ever since, the lessee failed to honour the agreement, official sources claimed.
Besides writing to the National Games Secretariat multiple times, the Syndicate had also constituted a sub-committee led by the convener of the Standing Committee of the Syndicate on Finance in 2017 to take up the matter.
Subsequently, the panel had apprised the Chief Secretary and Sports Secretary of the issue.
The default of the lease rent has not been the only bone of contention over the land.
Displeasure
The varsity had expressed displeasure over the alleged attempts made by the concessionaire to utilise the land for activities other than sporting events in contravention with the lease agreement.
Two years ago, the university Senate had observed that the property in question was being used for other commercial ventures, even while the land could only be used for promoting sports during the lease period of 15 years.
According to Vice Chancellor V.P. Mahadevan Pillai, the university’s legal monitoring committee, which met a few days ago, has decided to initiate prompt steps to realise the outstanding dues from the National Games Secretariat without further delay.
Legal advise sought
“Legal advise has been sought from the Standing Counsel in the matter. While we have been seeking the payment of the interest so far, the university has decided to press ahead to recover the entire amount that is due,” he said.
Various organisations that are representing the university employees, including the Kerala University Staff Union, have also demanded prompt and urgent legal measures in the matter.