Golf Club case: Retired SC judge made mediator

The Punjab and Haryana High Court on Wednesday appointed retired Supreme Court judge, Kuldeep Singh, as mediator to resolve the issue of lease and rent between the UT Administration and Chandigarh Golf Club.

Taking up the case, a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Arjan Kumar Sikri and Justice Rakesh Kumar Jain further asked the Golf Club to pay Rs 10 lakh more to the Administration. Earlier, on the direction of the High Court, the club had paid Rs 20 lakh to the Administration. The fee of the mediator is set at Rs 2 lakh.

The bench has also directed the parties to appear before the mediator on February 18. However, the case in the High Court will come up for hearing on March 4.

The Golf Club had filed the petition seeking quashing/ setting aside the orders of the UT Administration dated November 15 and 16, 2012 wherein the club was asked to deposit a rent of an amount of Rs 9,27,48,000 within two months.

The club had informed the bench that according to the two letters issued on November 15 and 16, 2012 the lease period of the club had been proposed to be five years, the rent of the building proposed as Rs 1,61,28000 per year and the rent for the green area was fixed as Rs 10,000 per acre for 130.6 acres of open land.

The court was also informed that the UT Administration had also proposed a seven per cent hike in the rent.

The club had sought quashing of said letters as it termed them illegal and arbitrary. The petitioner had also sought directions to the Administration to reconsider the matter in its entirety and extend the lease of the petitioner in terms of the draft lease proposed in a letter dated December 2, 2009 or on similar terms to that of the Delhi Golf Club.

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