HC upholds Single Bench order on total waiver of lease / rental fee

Madurai

The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has dismissed a batch of appeals preferred by Nagercoil Municipal Corporation challenging a Single Bench order that granted relief to shopkeepers stating that they were entitled to the benefit of complete waiver of lease / rental amounts for the entire period of the COVID-19 lockdown imposed by the State in 2020.

In 2021, the Single Bench granted relief to a few shopkeepers. Taking into consideration the restrictions imposed by the State during the COVID-19 lockdown, the court held that it was a ‘force majeure’ event and said that the shopkeepers were entitled to the benefit of complete waiver of the lease / rental amount from March 24 to September 6, 2020.

The order was challenged by the Nagercoil Corporation. It was submitted that the waiver of the licence fee for the entire lockdown period was inconsistent with the policy of the State. A G.O. was issued in 2020 to waive fee only for April and May of 2020. The counsel for the shopkeepers submitted that the Single Bench order was just and proper.

Dismissing the appeals preferred by the Nagercoil Corporation, a Division Bench of Justices Paresh Upadhyay and Krishnan Ramasamy observed that the difficulties faced by the nation (March to September, 2020) was like once in a century. Extraordinary circumstances cannot be met with ordinary measures. 

The court observed that the State in its wisdom thought it proper not to permit any citizen to even walk on the road during the COVID-19 lockdown period. No one would go out to earn money, and no one would go out to spend money. Considering this, the government passed an order accepting the proposal of the Commissioner of Municipal Administration.

The Commissioner made a proposal for waiver of the licence fee for the months of April and May 2020. The judges observed, “We do not find any fault in the proposal of the Commissioner of Municipal Administration which was made in the month of June, because that would not have taken into consideration the eventualities of the months coming thereafter”. 

The court observed, “If the said proposal was based on the lockdown for the months of April and May, 2020, we do not see any change of circumstances for the remaining period of the lockdown till September 2020.” Only because no proposal was made or the government not passing any order cannot be a guiding factor to meet with such circumstances.