The Tamil Nadu Hindu Religious and Charitable Endowment (H&CE) Department has been directed by the Madras High Court to permit a private school owned by the Dharmamurthi Rao Bahadur Calavala Cunnan Chetty (DRBCC) Charities Trust that owed it ₹13 crore in rent arrears to function at fixed monthly rent of ₹20 lakh.
The land on which the school is built is owned by Kanchipuram Arulmigu Ekambarnathar temple but located in upmarket Kilpauk area in Chennai metropolis.
The judgement was issued by Justice N Anand Venkatesh who was hearing a petition challenging the sealing of its premises by the HR&CE Department due to rent arrears by the Trust’s Seetha Kingston Matriculation Higher Secondary School.
The charities during the hearing made it very clear that it was not in a position financially to pay ₹25 lakh per month rent as demanded by the HR&CE Department.
However, in his judgement, Justice Venkatesh said some practical solution has to be there while fixing a tentative rent and a situation should not arise where the trust might not be able to pay the monthly rent fixed by the court.
The DRBCC Charities Trust wanted the court to fix Rs 15 lakh as rent but the High Court decided that the trust must pay Rs 20 lakh tentatively.
Also, if the trust is not able to resolve the issue, the staff and students must look for an alternative by March next year.