Tax relief for Chandy: Alappuzha municipal council to move HC

Alappuzha: The municipal council decided to approach the high court against the state government’s order reducing the tax and penalty imposed by the municipality on the Lake Palace Resort , promoted by the Water World Tourism Company, in which former minister Thomas Chandy is a director.

At a meeting held on Tuesday, the council also recommended the state government to suspend municipal secretary S Jahamgheer for allegedly acting against the council’s decision.

Pandemonium struck the meeting after LDF councillors opposed the UDF’s move seeking action against the secretary. BJP councillors staged a walkout alleging that both the state government and the municipality were not sincere about the issue and were making fools out of people.

Earlier, the municipal secretary had imposed a fine of Rs 1.17 crore for constructing 16 structures in the resort, exceeding the permissible limit. The resort owners filed an appeal before the state government, which reduced the fine to Rs 32.28 lakh based on the report by regional joint director of urban affairs department, V R Raju.

“In June, the council rejected the government’s recommendation to reduce the penalty. But the municipal secretary disagreed with the decision. The secretary submitted his report to the government, informing the council’s decision after recording his dissent in the report. So, he should be suspended,” said municipal chairman Thomas Joseph.

Last week, the state government issued an order directing the municipality to issue licence to the resort after accepting the reduced fine of Rs 32.28 lakh fixed by the government.

In the order issued last Thursday, additional chief secretary T K Jose mentioned the Kerala Investment Promotion and Facilitation Act that came into existence on October 20,2017 and directed the municipal secretary to implement the government order issued based on the report of the regional joint director.

“As per the Kerala Municipal Act, the state government can inspect the accuracy of the tax fixed by the municipal secretary at any time. The government can also give appropriate direction to the secretary after inspecting it and the secretary is responsible for executing it,” the order had said.