Rent row: Composer Gurukiran pays up

Hit music-maker also promises to vacate Vijayanagar home before MaySeven days after a MiD DAY report 'Composer's rent row gets uglier' was published on November 18, composer Gurukiran paid up Rs 80,000 in unpaid rent to his landlady D R Madalambike (46), an architect. However, the owner of the Vijayanagar house says Gurukiran merely paid for four months from July to October. He owes her rent for June as well according to Madalambike.u00a0 Facing the music: Music director Gurukiran at his rented residence in Vijayanagar. Pic/Vinod Kumar.TThe high court ruled that Gurukiran pay up from June onwards. The composer has also signed a memo promising to vacate the house on or before May 2010 in keeping with court directives. I was surprised when Gurukiran's lawyer Ram Bhat called to inform me that the cheque was ready. They have never been so courteous, said Madalambike.Gurukiran, however, said it was not correct to say that he did not want to pay the rent. I did not pay up because the matter was sub-judice. Now that the case has been settled, I have decided to follow court orders, said Gurukiran. Mistrust rulesMadalambike, an architect, says Gurukiran may look for ways to skip the court-decreed May deadline for vacating the house. I fear that he will continue to harass me. He parties noisily late into the night. I am fearful because I live in the same building with my daughter and elderly mother, said Madalambike. Three months after May 2003, when Gurukiran moved into Madalambike's house, he allegedly became irregular with the rent. Madalambike moved the city civil court, which ordered Gurukiran in June 2009 to pay his arrears and vacate the property.Gurukiran appealed to the High Court, which ruled in Madalambike's favour last week, after which the composer assured the court that he would move into his own house, currently under construction, in May 2010.