The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Veerasamy moves court to stop Siruseri land sale

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Dec 15, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Veerasamy moves court to stop Siruseri land sale

Special Correspondent

Claims sale of 103 acres of government land will cause huge loss to exchequer

CHENNAI: Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam treasurer Arcot N. Veerasamy has moved the Madras High Court to get the sale of 103 acres of Government land to a Singapore-based developer declared illegal.

He claimed that the sale was in violation of "every known legal principle," causing about Rs. 190 crore loss to the exchequer.

Seeking to restrain the Chief Secretary and the Industries Secretary from handing over the land at Siruseri near here, Mr. Veerasamy wanted the Government machinery to be restrained from providing infrastructure facilities till the disposal of the petition.

Stating that the land was acquired from private owners and obtained from Government poromboke by the State Industries Promotion Corporation of Tamil Nadu (SIPCOT), for establishing an information technology park at Siruseri, the former Minister said land allotted to the SIPCOT should not be used for any other purpose.

The Government had sold these 103 acres to Singapore Realty (Pvt) Limited, in which an Indian company holds 2.13 percentage share, at the rate of Rs. 15 lakhs an acre when the market rate was around Rs. 2 crores, he said.

Alleging several illegalities in the deal, the petitioner said: "Huge amounts have been paid as commission to several senior bureaucrats and middlemen to push through the deal."

Accusing the authorities of violating established procedures, he said, "A bare perusal of various clauses in the agreement entered into between the Singapore company and the Government will reveal the dubious nature of the contract."

Instead of granting long lease for 99 years, the land has been sold. The agreement permits the company to pay only Rs. 13 lakhs an acre at the time of allotment. The balance Rs. 2 lakhs can be paid after the completion of the first phase of works.

"The agreement does not provide for escalation clause. Instead, the company has imposed a restriction that the Government should not make any upward revision of [the] price of land in future."

Noting that the Government had agreed to provide basic infrastructure for the township project, Mr. Veerasamy said: "The Rs. 15 lakhs [per acre] given by the company will not be sufficient even for developing the basic infrastructure facilities. It is evident that 103 acres of prime Government property has been doled out to a private individual for a paltry sum on extraneous considerations."

He said even the Government Order relaxing rules was issued in a hurry.

"It is a criminal misconduct done without any public interest."

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