Can't deny rent for building taken over under DM Act, citing illegal construction: Kerala HC
The ruling was issued by a bench of Justice N Nagaresh while allowing a petition challenging the order of the Thiruvananthapuram district collector, who had denied rent for the takeover of a private medical college, along with all its existing human and material resources, during the Covid-19 pandemic for use as a treatment centre. The petitioners, SR Educational and Charitable Trust at Varkala in Thiruvananthapuram, stated that in March 2020, the collector had directed them to hand over the hospital buildings and facilities to the district medical officer under the Disaster Management Act.
Although the hospital was later returned to the petitioners in Nov 2021, following another order of the collector, no rent or compensation was paid.
The petitioners claimed Rs 46 crore as rent/compensation, but the collector rejected the claim, holding that the petitioner was not entitled to any compensation as the building constructed for the medical college was unauthorised. Aggrieved by this, the petitioners approached HC.
In the interim, the rent committee fixed the rent for the portion of the building used for Covid-19 response activities at Rs 1.06 crore, based on a direction from the bench.
Meanwhile, the local panchayat authorities reported that the women's hostel building of the college was constructed in violation of coastal regulation zone (CRZ) norms.
Upon examining the facts, HC noted that Section 66 of the Disaster Management Act lays down the procedure for computing rent/compensation, and that rent cannot be denied solely on the ground of unauthorised construction. If there are statutory violations in the building's construction, the authorities are free to proceed in accordance with the law. However, once a building has been used by the govt, the authorities are legally bound to pay rent or compensation to the petitioner.
Accordingly, HC directed the collector and district disaster management authority to take a fresh decision in the matter within three weeks.
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