Roxy reopens after HC orders company to pay arrears to KMC

Advocate Kalyan Banerjee,counsel of the Bengal Properties said the company would pay the arrears according to the court order.

The KMC shut down Roxy on Monday for the non-payment of the rent for last five years. On Tuesday,Bengal Properties moved to the High Court challenging the KMC action.

The court also directed the cinema hall to pay Rs 1crore as premium for the lease in a month. It asked the KMC to decide the premium for the lease which was fixed at Rs 22.72 crore for a lease of 99 years. According to the court order,KMC would have to give a chance to company to hear its plea on the premium for lease.

A senior official of the Bengal Properties said the KMC had leased out the Roxy cinema hall,one of the oldest cinema halls in Kolkata,in 1941. Earlier,the yearly rent was only Rs 8000. On September 23,the KMC informed the company that the lease was terminated in 2005. In the letter,the KMC increased the yearly rent to Rs 7.17 lakh and said the company would have to pay the arrears rent for the period of last five year since 2006.

The official said the KMC shut down the Roxy cinema hall on Monday when the negotiations on the new proposal sent to them in September were underway. The official said the premium fixed by the KMC was too high and the company requested the KMC to reduce the amount.

After the order,advocate Ashoke Banerjee,government pleader said the KMC took a correct step as the company did not pay the rent for long.