After MiD DAY revealed that Airports Authority of India (AAI) could possibly lose two of its prime plots in Juhu to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) ufffd worth more than Rs 100 crore ufffd owing to non-payment of taxes, it was discovered yesterday that the defaulter tenant settled the issue by secretly paying the taxes to the tune of Rs 14.3 lakh to the BMC to avoid any legal action against him.
On April 12, MiD DAY had carried a report explaining how plots belonging to AAI would be auctioned off by the BMC after lessee Santosh Enterprises, who operates two parking sites on AAI land in Juhu, had not paid several lakh rupees as assessment tax to BMC despite repeated reminders (‘Defaulting tenant may cost AAI Juhu plots worth Rs 100 cr’).u00a0
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Following that report, the AAI had decided to pay the amount from its own kitty to avoid any legal hassles but came to know that the amount had already been paid. “We decided to pay the amount to BMC from our own fund and later deduct it from the security deposit of the tenant. Our representative went to the concerned BMC office on Monday to make the payment but it was over there that our official was informed that the payment had already been deposited by the tenant,” said M Yadagiri, airport director, Juhu aerodrome (AAI operated aerodrome). u00a0