Mumbai collector seals bank premises the Worli society had sublet on its ground floor, citing non-payment of dues; office bearers, including chairman Dilip Vengsarkar, scramble to raise Rs 1.9 crore
Some of the biggest names from India’s sporting arena live in this building, yet on Friday the Sportsfield Cooperative Housing Society, at Worli Seaface, was slapped with a notice to pay up Rs 2 crore in unpaid dues. The society members said they have 20 days in which to pay the dues.
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The Collector last week sealed the premises of the Punjab National Bank on the ground floor of the building because the housing society had apparently not paid the additional lease rent for around 30 years.
The collector’s notice on the Sportsfield building. Pics/Sneha Kharabe
What is additional lease rent?
Additional lease rent, said Advocate Vinod Sampat, senior lawyer dealing in cooperative society cases, is charged by the Collector on property that he has leased to a lessee and the lessee has sublet it or a part of it to a third party. In an ideal case, the lessee is expected to inform the Collector and a premium is to be paid to the Collector. When this is not done, the Collector issues notices and recovers the additional lease rent.”
Dilip Vengsarkar
Collector of Mumbai city Ashwini Joshi said, “The notice has been put outside the building. They have to pay us an additional lease rent. It is a recovery procedure. All I can say is that we are in talks with the building committee.”
The Sportsfield building owes the Mumbai collector additional lease rent of Rs 2 crore says a notice on the building wall
The bank, meanwhile, is conducting business from its Worli Naka branch.
Prashant Thambe, a bank employee, sitting outside the bank, said, “When we came on Friday, we were shocked to see that the bank had been sealed. We have shifted our business to our Worli Naka branch.”
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Trying to sort out issue: Secretary S Solkar, secretary of Sportsfield and wife of the late cricketer Eknath Solkar, said, “We received a notice around a month ago, and within 20 days, we had paid Rs 17 lakh. Another notice was apparently served but we did not receive it. The ground and basement that was leased to the bank since 1989 is the premises for which the notice has been issued. We will have a meeting soon to discuss what has to be done about this.”
Chairman of the building committee, Dilip Vengsarkar, said, “This is a government matter, but yes, I agree there has been some problem. This is an issue that will be sorted out in a couple of days’ time.”
Sportsfield resident and former cricketer Yajurvindra Singh, said, “The Collector wants us to pay dues from 1985 when the building was not even occupied. The bank came in much later in 1989, yet we are being asked to pay from 1985, which is not fair. Our building committee is in talks with the Collector’s office. We are hoping for a solution soon.”
People who had come to the bank on Monday were surprised to see it sealed. Priyanshi Tambe, a retired teacher, had come to collect her pension. She said, “I live in Worli village and this branch is closest for me. This bank being sealed is a huge problem.”
Businessman Raman Gupta, who has a locker at the bank, said, “I needed to get my mother’s gold, which she needs for a family wedding in Gujarat over the weekend. I hope the bank opens soon.”
— Inputs from Hemal Ashar
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