Pramesh S Jain & Dr.Thomas (Sub-Editor)
T
he GT World Mall was closed on Thursday by the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) due to outstanding property tax payments totaling Rs 3.56 crore.
The mall has been in the spotlight since a elderly farmer was denied entry for wearing a dhoti on Tuesday evening.
The mall received a notice from the civic organization Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) directing them to settle the outstanding balance by July 31.
Additionally,the city officials issued a warning, stating that if the payment is not received by the deadline,the mall will close even more.
Additionally,the mall’s trade license has been suspended.
A notice on the mall’s entrance stated,”Your trade license is suspended and your property is sealed for non-payment of arrears property tax,as per Section 156 of the BBMP Act 2020,read with a circular dated 06-12-2023.
Nevertheless,the GT Mall management asserted that,in contrast to the Rs 3.56 crore indicated in the BBMP notice,two years’ worth of property tax, or Rs 1.78 crore, is due.
The BBMP also asked mall management to explain why they wouldn’t let the elderly farmer in a dhoti enter the mall.
Meanwhile More trouble to the management of GT mall as the Kempapura Agrahara police have registered a case against the owner of a shopping mall off Magadi Road for denying a farmer to enter the movie theatre citing the reason that he was wearing a dhoti on Tuesday .
Based on the complaint,the police registered a case on Wednesday against the unnamed owner of the GT World Mall and Arun,the security guard,who allegedly stopped Fakeerappa and his family from entering.
The FIR has been registered under Section 126(2) (punishment of wrongful restraint) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
The police have initiated investigation and verifying the facts.We will issue notice to the accused for questioning soon, a senior officer, said .
The case was registered following by a complaint by Dharmaraj Gowda, one among those who protested against the incident.
The incident occurred on Tuesday at around 6 pm when Fakeerappa from Haveri visited for the mall along with his son Nagesh and wife to watch a movie,Kalki .
Fakeerappa wore a white shirt and dhoti.
The security staff stopped us stating that he won’t be allowed inside in a Dhoti,Fakeerappa told the media.
“To enter,wear trousers and come, we were told.”
Fakeerappa’s son Nagaraj said that they were not allowed because of the “rules”.
“At the main gate,we were told we wouldn’t be allowed and to speak to the supervisors.When I spoke with the higher authorities,we were told that we wouldn’t be allowed in a panche,no matter what.
It was my wish to watch a movie with my parents at the mall,” he said.
On Wednesday, members of pro-Kannada outfits held a protest at the mall.Fakeerappa was then garlanded by the mall authorities, who later issued an apology.
Dharmaraja Gowda in his complaint stated that the behaviour of the security staff has humiliated the family and demanded legal action to be taken against the persons concerned .
