In an unprecedented move, the Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) has cancelled the plot allotted to Vijay Mallya, chairman of the United Breweries (UB) group, after a period of 29 years for failing to execute the final agreement and maintain the rest house.
The TTD has also resolved to invite fresh applications for the allotment of the plot to a new donor for taking up renovation/reconstruction works under its new policy of cottage donation scheme.
The TTD has taken the decision as there is no response from Mr. Mallya to its letters and the series of notices served on him.
The TTD had allotted the spacious Plot No. 2 in the Dharmagiri area in the vicinity of the geological wonder, ’Silathoranam’ (natural rock formation), to Mr. Mallya in 1991. He had constructed a palatial guest house, ‘Venkata Vijayam’, with nine suits and handed it over to the TTD amid much fanfare after signing a preliminary agreement in 1993.
However, Mr. Mallya had failed to execute the mandatory final agreement despite a lapse of several years and reminders from the TTD.
Left with no other option, the TTD had constituted a committee with senior officials to explore the options of allotting the plot to a new donor under its revised cottage donation policy.
The committee, during its inspections, had found the condition of the rest house in a poor state owing to lack of maintenance, and opined that further conservation was unlikely as the donor was “absconding.”
The committee, in its report, had also submitted that a decision with regard to providing an equivalent extent of land could be taken in accordance with the resolution adopted by the TTD in 2005, should the donor approach it for an agreement in the future.
As a follow-up action, the engineering wing, in its report, had highlighted the defects such as leakages, damages to false roofing, wall panelling, and water and sewage lines. Based on the report, the TTD had served a show-cause notice to Mr. Mallya in March this year asking him to explain why the allotment should not be cancelled for violating the stipulations.
The notice, which was sent to his residential address in Bengaluru, could not be delivered as “the addressee has left the country,” forcing the TTD to cancel the allotment.
The TTD will now invite applications for allotment of the same to a new donor in the next open tender and has pegged the minimum donation amount at ₹5 crore for renovation/reconstruction of 13 suits under its new cottage donation policy.
