Sublet scandal in restaurant rocks 133-year-old Assembly Rooms theatre in Ooty

Ooty: The 133-year-old 'Assembly Rooms' theatre here, a British legacy and pride of the hills, suffered a jolt to its over century-old reputation as sub-letting of its sprawling restaurant came to the fore. On Friday, officials evicted all the small shops, the sublet shops inside the restaurant and another shop outside it which were found to be on the sub-let category.

The theatre faced a problem when the PWD failed to give a no-objection certificate to the theatre for renewal of license as the eastern side of the theatre where the restaurant is attached was found be full of unrecognized shops with dangerous cooking fuels being used, closing the entry and exit doors on the eastern side of the theatre.

“It looked like a shandy inside the restaurant, in violation of the prescribed norms,” PWD sources said.

When the concerned officials found that there were shops being sublet without any proper agreement with the theatre management, it was brought to the notice of Ms.J. Innocent Divya, the collector of Nilgiris, who is also the ex-officio president of the Assembly Rooms Trust, which manages the theatre. The collector ordered eviction of unauthorized shops inside the theatre premises.

When contacted, Ms. Innocent Divya, said that though the lease agreement of the restaurant lapsed in March, it continued as litigation is pending in the court.

Since subletting of the restaurant was against the norms and also a crime, the shops which were sublet were removed on Friday. “We will take necessary action against the offenders after submitting the facts to the court,” she added.