The Jal Mahal land lease agreement that was caught in controversies ever since it was executed between the Rajasthan state government and a private company owned by a Jaipur based businessman in 2005 has been found illegal by the Rajasthan High Court, which annulled it on Thursday. The high court, while cancelling the lease and license agreements, has directed the private company, the Jal Mahal Resorts Pvt Ltd, to return the entire land to the Rajasthan Tourism Development Corporation (RTDC), which will pass it back to its original owners, the Jaipur Development Authority, the Jaipur Municipal Corporation and the Public Works Department.
The judgment has come as a blow to the state government which had been trying hard before the court as well as the state assembly to project the agreement to be in public interest. The government had given away 100 acres of priceless land of the ancient Man Sagar Lake to the private company for 99 years in return for an annual lease money of merely Rs 2.5 crore. The land’s current market value is estimated to be anywhere between Rs 2,500 crore and Rs 3,500 crore.
The 17th century monument was also handed over to the company on an annual license fee of Re 1. As if this was not enough, the company was allowed to charge entry fee from the visitors coming to see the historical monument for the next 99 years. All this was done in the name of restoring and maintaining the ancient lake and the historical monument to boost the state tourism.
1 comment:
You have no idea what ur talking about .clearly ur not from Jaipur. Jal mahal was into pits before mr. Kothari took over. As a jaipurite I m proud of what he did and I hope there were tens and thousands like him. Our world( India) would be a better place to live in.He's not responsible for the price quoted to him. Who wouldn't bid for something u were getting cheap. Is it a crime to buy a thing for less price when someone offered it to u for less.
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