SC directs adjudication on rent arrears payable by Madras Race Club to T.N. govt.

SC directs adjudication on rent arrears payable by Madras Race Club to T.N. govt.

The club must be allowed a fair opportunity to respond to the claim of ₹822.63 crore in rent arrears mentioned in the show cause notice of July 4 Supreme Court Bench

The Madras Race Club has been operating on the leased premises at Udhagamandalam for over 50 years and horse racing had been held on the premises for over a century

Krishnadas Rajagopal

 

New Delhi

The Supreme Court on Friday gave the Madras Race Club a full opportunity to be heard on the question of arrears of rent payable for 52.34 acres of land dispossessed from it by the Nilgiris district administration.

A Bench of Justices Hrishikesh Roy and S.V.N. Bhatti directed a competent authority within the Tamil Nadu government to adjudicate the issue of arrears due from the club.

The club, represented by senior advocate C.A. Sundaram and advocate Rohini Musa, had challenged a Madras High Court order of July 5, which held that the rent arrears added up to a whopping ₹822.63 crore (without interest) as on June 30, 2023.

The court held that the club deserved ‘no further leniency’.

By the time of the High Court order, the district administration had already taken possession and sealed the property. The land is proposed to be used for an eco park project.

On Friday, Mr. Sundaram said the amount of ₹822.63 crore was decided without any adjudication. The club should have been given an opportunity to be heard. It had been thrown out of the property overnight.

The Madras Race Club has been operating on the leased premises at Udhagamandalam (Ooty) for over 50 years. Horse racing had been held at the premises for over a century. The club had made substantial investments in the infrastructure and facilities at the racecourse, including the construction of stables and other buildings to support horse racing and related activities.

Mr. Sundaram said imposing over ₹820 crore on the club was like “flogging a dead horse”.

Senior advocate Jaideep Gupta, for the State of Tamil Nadu, said the amount of ₹822.63 crore was based on a show cause notice issued by the government against the club on July 4.

“A show cause notice can even say ₹3000 crore… The question is whether there was adjudication,” Justice Bhatti reacted.

The July 4 notice had said the amount was fixed taking into consideration the fact that the “substantial loss of revenue could have been utilised for public welfare, infrastructure development and other essential services”.

Disposing of the case, the court said the club must be allowed a fair opportunity to respond to the claim of ₹822.63 crore in rent arrears mentioned in the show cause notice of July 4.

The Bench left it open for the club to raise all contentions.

The court had on an earlier occasion, on July 10, refused to intervene in the dispossession of the land on the expiry of the lease.

On Friday, the apex court clarified that the order had however not endorsed the claim of ₹822.63 crore as rent arrears

Medical students go missing: Madurai High Court Bench orders SIT probe

Medical students go missing: Madurai High Court Bench orders SIT probe

The Hindu Bureau

MADURAI 01.09.2024 

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has directed that a Special Investigation Team be formed under the supervision of Madurai Commissioner of Police to conduct investigation into the case of two missing medical students.

A Division Bench of Justices C.V. Karthikeyan and J. Sathya Narayana Prasad took into account that a first year medical student of Government Medical College, Ariyalur, had gone missing from her home since May 22.

Similarly, a youth, a second year medical student of Government Medical College, Namakkal, had gone missing since May 18.

Mutual decision?

It was suspected that both had taken a decision together to move away from their respective homes. They are yet to be located. Police complaints were lodged in Tiruchi and Namakkal districts respectively. The court observed that there was no progress made in the investigation and said that it was deeply concerned about the safety of the two children which is of extreme importance.

The court directed the Special Investigation Team to be formed under the supervision of the Commissioner of Police, Madurai city, and functioning under the Deputy Commissioner of Police (South), Madurai city.

The court directed that the investigation should commence immediately without any delay.

Taking into account that two separate FIRs were registered, the court directed it to be placed before the Director General of Police so that they can be clubbed and investigation can be done in a coordinated manner.

The court posted the matter on September 23 for filing of the report on the progress made in the investigation.

Police search apartment complex near private university, seize ganja

Police search apartment complex near private university, seize ganja

Crackdown on drug network: Police officials conducted raids in flats near SRM University in Potheri. Special Arrangement

On instructions from Tambaram City Commissioner Abin Dinesh Modak, 168 teams comprising 1,000 policemen conducted searches in the apartment complex housing 688 flats in Potheri; the raids led to seizure of ganja from 15 students; tobacco products, liquor bottles too found

The Hindu Bureau

CHENNAI 01.09.2024 

The Tambaram City police on Saturday conducted raids in apartments, occupied mostly by college students of a private educational institution, and seized ganja and other narcotic substances from the premises.

Acting on specific information that the students were using drugs, including ganja, Tambaram City Police Commissioner Abin Dinesh Modak instructed his officers to conduct a special raid at the apartment complex. Under the supervision of Additional Commissioner of Police, Tambaram, C. Mageswari, the police personnel carried out the special operation near SRM College at Abode Valley, Potheri.

More than 5,00,000 students attend various colleges and schools within the jurisdiction of the Tambaram Police. These institutions have students from all over the country. Universities, by their sheer size, have students staying at the periphery of their campuses. The students stay at rented buildings in gated societies, which take the shape of micro cities.

Explaining the reason behind the operation, Tambaram City Police Commissioner Mr. Modak said, “The local criminals as well as students who had dropped out, in a well-organised manner create a thriving criminal ecosystem by indulging in selling drugs, running extortion rackets, trading in protection money, and hiring criminals for assaulting innocent students. Hence strict action needs to be taken.”

The Tambaram City Police arranged a massive search operation at Abode Valley apartments in Potheri. This residential complex has 22 towers. Each tower has four floors with eight flats on each floor. There are 688 flats where around 3,000 students reside.

The operation that began early on Saturday morning, was carried out with 1,000 policemen grouped into 168 teams. The searches led to the seizure of ganja from 15 students. Ganja chocolates; bhang; tobacco (hookah) and a huge cache of liquor bottles were also seized. The operation led to registration of 20 cases and arrest of 21 people. The apartment has 60 abandoned two-wheelers and one four-wheeler. Some were suspected to be stolen and verification is in progress, he said.

History-sheeter Selvamani, 29, of Guduvanchery, who had spread his network around the apartment complex, was also secured in the operation and five weapons (swords and knives) used for threatening the university students were recovered, a police press release said.

The police have also arrested the owner of a dhaba from Uttar Pradesh who procured ganja chocolates from the State and sold it to the students. “We have also secured digital data, to further identify the criminals who are perpetrating crime, supplying drugs, and influencing innocent students to consume drugs so that they could be made pawns in the extortion business,” said Mr. Modak.

Stalin signs MoU with Google to set up AI labs

Stalin signs MoU with Google to set up AI labs

The Hindu Bureau

CHENNAI 01.09.2024 

Chief Minister M.K. Stalin, who is touring the U.S. to attract investments, signed a memorandum of understanding with Google to set up Artificial Intelligence (AI) laboratories in Tamil Nadu.

He met officials of the company on its Mountain View campus and discussed expanding manufacture of Pixel 8 phones and launching other products of the company in the State.

Industries Minister T.R.B. Rajaa said, ‘‘With this partnership, we look forward to skilling two million youth in AI through the Naan Mudhalvan [a State government scheme], and collaborate with start-ups. We want our youth to be a future-ready workforce.”

PM: Vande trains new face of rlys, symbol of aspiration and dreams

PM: Vande trains new face of rlys, symbol of aspiration and dreams

102 VANDE BHARAT TRAINS NOW OPERATIONAL 

TIMES NEWS NETWORK New Delhi : Vande Bharat trains are the new face of railways and a symbol of “aspiration and dreams”, PM Narendra Modi said while flagging off three such semi-high speed trains on Saturday. He also announced that the sleeper and Metro versions of Vande Bharat express will be launched soon. 

Later in the day attending an ET event, railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the trial run of Vande sleeper will start in the next one week. While flagging off the three trains that will run in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh, the PM said, “Nation is inching towards the goal of Vikist Bharat with modernisation and expansion of Vande Bharat trains in the country.” He added that the National Capital Region (NCR) is becoming an example of PM Gatishakti’s vision to change the country's infrastructure with modern trains, network of expressways and expansion of air services.

The three new addition of Vande Bharat trains to the existing fleet will improve connectivity on three routes — Meerut—Lucknow, Madurai — Bengaluru and Chennai — Nagercoil. Referring to the three trains PM said these will provide connectivity to important cities as well as historic towns in the country. Underlining the need for rapid development of southern states to accomplish the goal of developed India, Modi said, “Southern India is the land of immense talent, resources and opportunities.” The PM said over ₹6,000 cr has been allocated for TN’s rail budget this year, seven times more than in 2014 amid complaints of CM M K Stalin of the Centre neglecting railways in the state.

Entered seminar hall to look for a doc, RG Kar accused tells CBI

Entered seminar hall to look for a doc, RG Kar accused tells CBI 

‘PANICKED, RUSHED OUT’ RohitKhanna@timesofindia.com Kolkata :

Sanjay Roy, the prime accused in the RG Kar Hospital rape-murder, has told CBI that he had gone to the upper floor of the hospital in the early hours of Aug 9 to look for a doctor because a patient known to him was in need of oxygen. Roy, who has undergone a polygraph test, has told the investigators that he did not intend to go to the seminar room where the crime allegedly took place, but had entered there accidentally. Roy told CBI that on Aug 9, the patient known to him was supposed to be operated on. The patient’s condition had reportedly deteriorated, and Roy entered the seminar hall while looking for a doctor to attend to him. The accused also claimed that there was no security at the gate and nobody stopped him.

 CBI has already run two security guards through a polygraph test to verify Roy’s claim. The accused, sources said, told the investigators that he entered the room and saw someone lying there. He claimed he did not know the woman, but shook the body and there was no response. Roy claimed he panicked at this stage and rushed out. He stumbled on something and his Bluetooth device fell there. Investigators, however, doubt his claims as a CCTV grab at 11 am on Aug 8 shows him staring at the deceased doctor when four other juniors were present with her. 

Roy’s lawyer Kabita Sarkar said they were waiting for the next date of hearing in court to present his version of the incident. “He has gone through a polygraph test and we are sure the judge will give him the opportunity to be heard,” she said.

TN will oppose regressive NEP: Appavu

TN will oppose regressive NEP:  Appavu 

Tirunelveli : Tamil Nadu assembly speaker M Appavu on Saturday said the Union govt was trying to force the state to adopt National Education Policy (NEP) but the state govt will continue to oppose it as it was against the welfare of Tamil Nadu and its people. He was addressing ‘Petrorgalai Kondaduvom’ event held in Tirunelveli to honour parents of school students who donated towards development of govt schools.

 “In 2014, Tamil Nadu govt accepted the NEP for compulsory education for children from 1 to 14 years of age. Around 99% of students in the state now go to school till Class VIII while 89% attend till Class XII. The gross enrollment ratio for higher education is 51%,” he said. 

School education minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi said the state govt has introduced various schemes just for students, which teachers and parents should be aware of and make use of to the fullest. Earlier, youth welfare minister Udhayanidhi Stalin inaugurated the event via videoconferencing.