Now, Chandigarh admn serves lease termination notice on sole GMSH-16 chemist

The first notice was served on September 16 with the contention that the chemist illegally extended the shop by merging the adjacent passage, thereby doubling its size

The UT health department on Friday issued the second show-cause notice to the sole chemist shop at Government Multi-Specialty Hospital (GMSH), Sector 16, this time for lease termination.

For 29 years, the sole chemist shop at GMSH-16 has been operated by the same firm through multiple extensions and renewals, and at minimal rent as compared to market price. (HT Photo)

For 29 years, the chemist shop has been operated by the same firm through multiple extensions and renewals, and at minimal rent as compared to market price. The shop was allotted to Sunil Kumar Jain on lease for only two years through an auction in 1993. While the first lease ended in 1995, the hospital authorities never floated a fresh tender and have been extending the lease every five years, with the latest extension occurring in 2019 – for up to 2024, an inspection by the health department earlier this month had found.

The lease was extended on several occasions on the basis of a 2000 finance department notification, which has now been withdrawn by the UT health department after it became clear that it was not meant for shops at health facilities.

“The last extension order issued in 2019, specified any new policy framed/directions issued by the UT administration will be applicable to allotment and one-month notice could be given for eviction of premises. Since the finance department orders have been withdrawn, it is clear that extensions in the lease period of the chemist shop were not appropriate,” the show-cause notice read, asking the chemist to respond within a month on why the lease should not be terminated in accordance with the specific condition of termination provided in the last extension order.

According to the notice, the administration plans to float a fresh tender for the shop and subject to incumbent chemist’s eligibility, they may also participate in bidding process, if they so desire.

The first notice was served on September 16 with the contention that the chemist illegally extended the shop by merging the adjacent passage, thereby doubling its size. But after the chemist moved court, the health department was restrained from evicting them till September 2024, as no fact-finding inquiry regarding the alleged encroachment was conducted.