Wakf Board to take back Windsor Manor land

Wakf Board to take back Windsor Manor land

Vijay Times News

Bangalore: The famous Windsor Manor Hotel is in for troubled times. Minister for Wakf Merajuddin N Patel said here on Thursday that the State Government would soon initiate action to take control of the land on which the hotel is located as it belonged to the Wakf Board.
Addressing reporters, he said that on January 7 the Supreme Court had dismissed a special leave petition (SLP) filed by the ITC Hotels management, which is running the hotel, challenging the Karnataka High Court judgement. He said with the dismissal of the SLP by the apex court, the Wakf Board could take control of the property.

After receiving a copy of the apex court order, he would discuss the matter with Chief Minister Dharam Singh to issue a notice to the hotel to vacate the premises. The hotel is presently offering Rs 6,000 as monthly rent to Wakf Board, which the board had refused to accept, he said. “We are demanding Rs 35 lakh as monthly rent based on market rate. The ministry will also consider going in for a fresh agreement if the hotel management accepts the rent or else it will be compelled to vacate the premises,” he added.

The management had been paying a rent of Rs 5,000 a month since 1973. It offered to raise the rent to Rs 6,000 when the board approached it to hike the rent. When the board asked it to vacate the premises, the management refused leading to the legal battle.

According to the present estimates the property is worth Rs 300 cr. While the land is owned by the Wakf Board, the building was constructed by the Vishwarama Hotels Ltd. However, the board claims that the building itself was illegal as there was no lease agreement in place with the hotel management in the past.