Department leases prime site on Anna Salai for song Suresh Kumar / TNN / Updated: Jan 13, 2018 
IN VIOLATION: A nine-storey building has been leased out for just ₹30,000 a month.
CHENNAI: Appalled over the information that a nine storied building constructed in 12 grounds of land in Teynampet owned by the Tamil Nadu Discharged Prisoners Aid Society has been leased out for 45 years to a private engineering company for a meagre amount of Rs 30,000 per month, Madras high court has directed the society to give details of officials who had fixed the lease amount.
A status report of the properties owned by the society also revealed that the lessee company had stopped paying the rent from June 2015. Till 2004, the property was rented out to the office of DIG of Police, Chenglepet Range and thereafter, it was leased out to Quanta Engineers and Promoters Private Ltd for a period of 45 years.
Justice N Kirubakaran, slamming officials and smelling a scam, said: “It is unimaginable that a property measuring 12 grounds with 9 storey building in the heart of the city was leased out for a meagre sum of Rs10 lakhs as advance for a period of 45 years. The rent of Rs 30,000 per month is very negligible, that too for a nine storey building. Therefore, the DGP has to file a report of officials who had taken the decision to lease out the property in question, and the details of all the directors of Quanta Engineers and Promoters and Real Value Technologies (present lessee),” the judge said.
It seems Quanta had immediately sub-leased the property to Real Value Technologies and the said company was paying a rent of Rs 1 lakh per month directly to the society, Justice Kirubakaran pointed out.
The judge also directed the Tamil Nadu prison department to file a report with details as to whether released prisoners in the state were being provided with the assistance as per the prison manual, and whether they were shadowed to verify that they were not resuming criminal activities.
Noting that for decades together, the properties of the society located across the state had been suffering neglect and fallen in the hands of lumpen elements, Justice Kirubakaran said it was the reason why police were unable to get basic details of properties and monthly rent paid by persons who were in possession of such properties. He then directed the district officials of the society to contact the district collectors concerned to get details of the properties belonging to the society.
If the details are not collected by the prison authorities, the high court will be compelled to summon the home secretary as well as DGP, the judge warned and posted the plea to January 22 for further hearing.
Tamil Nadu: Prisons Dept set to take over century-old Prisoners’ Aid Society
The department is also seeking to introduce amendments at the Annual General Meeting scheduled for Friday, aiming to ratify appointments, accept resignations, and revise the designations of directors.
The move is seen as an attempt to remove the administrative powers currently held by civil society representatives.
Established on February 15, 1921, as a non-official agency, the TNDPAS was incorporated on July 11, 1921, under the Companies Act of 1913 as a non-profit, public limited company without shareholding.
The central committee of the society operates from a nine-storey building on Anna Salai in Teynampet, Chennai, and maintains committees in 16 districts across the state.
The primary objective of the society is to generate revenue through its properties in order to provide financial assistance to released prisoners, aiding in their rehabilitation and reintegration into society.
However, except for the district committees in Vellore and Coimbatore, most other units have reportedly failed to serve its purpose, leaving hundreds of released prisoners in the lurch.
The central committee in Chennai, in particular, has remained largely defunct for several years and has also become embroiled in a legal dispute over prime property in Chennai.
“The society has failed to serve the best interests of released prisoners. Since the Honorary Secretary and Honorary Treasurer, who were responsible for the society’s functioning, did not cooperate with the department in rehabilitation efforts, the department has initiated steps to reclaim the organisation,” said a source privy to the development.
He noted that Friday’s meeting agenda stems directly from these longstanding issues and recalled a legal dispute in the Madras High Court over 12 grounds of land in Teynampet, which had been leased for a meagre Rs 30,000 per month for a period of 45 years.
Among the key amendments proposed is the appointment of the Director General of Prisons, Maheswarar Dayal, as a Director of the Society, and DGP (Headquarters) Kanagaraj as Director (Finance). However, these moves have met with resistance from some district committee members.
“The department should instead identify and replace individual troublemakers with those who are genuinely committed to the cause, turning the society into an extended wing of the department. It is in stark contradiction to its by-laws,” said a society member from Vellore, while a member from Coimbatore expressed similar concerns.
SN Janardhanan, Secretary of the Vellore district unit of TNDPAS, called the move ‘regressive’ and stated that he would register his protest at the meeting.
In addition to the proposed amendments to the Articles and Memorandum of Association in line with the Companies Act, it also proposes another agenda item includes restructuring the district committees by appointing Superintendents of Central Prisons in the respective districts as Secretaries, and Probation Officers as Treasurers.
“These agendas and the very convening of the meeting are part of a premeditated move by the department to eliminate civil society participation,” Janardhanan added.
Senior prison officials, however, rejected these allegations, stating that the changes are intended to improve the functioning of society. At the same time, they acknowledged that a potential ‘conflict of interest’ could arise if top officials of the department were to assume direct control over the society’s administration and finances.
No comments:
Post a Comment