A school in Tamil Nadu’s Capital Chennai, run by veteran actor Rajinikanth’s wife Latha, was sealed on Tuesday after the school management allegedly failed to clear rent dues amounting to Rs two crore, NDTV reported. Nearly 300 students studied at the Ashram Marticulation School aided by Raghavendra Foundation.
The school management has denied the allegations and said they will sue the owner, Venkateshvaralu, for defamation. “[By] taking the law into his hands, the landlord has created immense agony to the school, children, parents and management today,” it said in a statement, NDTV reported.
The school management has decided to vacate the premises and temporarily moved the students to a school near Velachery, reported India Today.
Venkateshvarulu said he had rented out the school ground for use in 2002. He said he had filed a case against the school management over a year ago as they had not paid the rent amounting upto Rs 10 crore.
“Their lawyer said that they cannot pay a huge amount and instead paid only Rs two crore,” the owner told India Today. “The service tax per month comes upto Rs 60,000 and I had to pay it last quarter. I can not do it again.”
The school management alleged that the owner has been charging an unfair and exorbitant rent. “We have been running our school in the premises of Guindy for more than a decade now. We have faced a lot of harassment in the recent past due to the landlord’s family disputes,” the management said, according to The NewsMinute.
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