Elante Mall to take legal recourse against FIR over lease dispute

A day after an FIR was registered against Elante Mall officials for their lease dispute with Puneet Gupta, officials said the sections levied under the said FIR do not call for any punitive action

A day after an FIR was registered against Elante Mall officials for their dispute over a lease with Puneet Gupta, officials in a statement on Sunday said they will take legal action against the complainant..

Elante Mall officials said they were looking to take legal recourse against a prior FIR lodged over a lease dispute. (HT File)

Claiming that the sections levied under the said FIR do not call for any punitive action, officials said in an official statement, ”Puneet Gupta, the owner of M/s Ayaan Foods, has filed the FIR with vested interests and an intent to cause harassment. Gupta himself is a defaulter and owes Elante a sum of more than ₹78 lakh toward unpaid dues.”

“This is gross negligence and reeks of a conspiracy against Elante, compelling us to initiate legal action in this case to safeguard our interest. It is also very unfortunate that the investigating authorities are disallowing level-playing. We urge the investigating authorities to take cognizance of the misdemeanour and take appropriate action,” a spokesperson for Elante said.

The spokesperson further said the CSJ Infrastructure Private Limited is the legal owner of the foodcourt premise and has leased the premises to the lessee as per the terms of the contract that expired on 31st March 2022.

Elaborating, the spokesperson said, “CSJ Infrastructure issued a notice of ‘non-renewal’ dated February 1, to the lessee as per relevant terms of the existing contract. M/s Ayaan Foods had further sub-leased the area to certain other F&B retailers. However, the sub-lease tenure cannot be extended beyond the expiry of the master lease tenure.”

“Despite expiry of lease deed on March 31, the Lessee continues to allow the Sub Lessees to operate out of the sublet area within the food court. On expiry of the Lease Deed, all the rights of the Lessee come to an end and any third person/entity deriving his/its rights through the Lessee also come to an end on 31st March, 2022,” the spokesperson added.

Officials added that the lessee had filed an injunction suit against CSJ infrastructure Private Limited on March 16, which was under sub judice. “All these actions initiated by Puneet Gupta are with the sole intention to harass Elante Mall and its employees and retain the premises without any legal agreement or the express authority for as long as possible,” the officials said.

Police, meanwhile, have arrested the four accused in the case including Abhishek Sharma, Nitin, Nitin Chaturvedi and Venkat, all management officials in the mall. The four were later released on bail.