NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday allowed the Central government to resume eviction proceedings against the Delhi Race Club from its 53-acre government land in central Delhi.
A bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Tejas Karia allowed the Centre’s appeal against the interim protection granted earlier by a single judge.
The two-judge bench passed the order after the government submitted that the club had directly approached the high court even though the matter was still at the notice stage and no final eviction order had been passed yet.
The dispute relates to around 53 acres of government land on Lok Kalyan Marg, occupied by the Delhi Race Club. The Centre told the court that the Public Premises Act already provided a process where the estate officer first hears the matter and any aggrieved party can later file an appeal.
“The questions, such as whether the lease still exists, whether the occupation is authorised and the effect of past payments, should first be examined by the estate officer.
The respondent (club) cannot, merely by asserting a subsisting lease, oust the jurisdiction of the estate officer or seek quashing of the show cause notice at the threshold,” the Centre told the court.
It claimed that the original lease for the land was granted in 1926 for 25 years, with extensions possible subject to conditions and approval. The Centre said the last extension expired on December 31, 1994, and was never renewed after that.
A single judge on April 24 stopped the estate officer from proceeding further on a show-cause notice issued to the club on April 17. The notice had asked the club to explain why eviction proceedings should not be initiated against it.
The judge had restrained the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs from taking “forcible possession” of the Club at Kamal Ataturk Marg, as well as the Jaipur Polo Ground in the Race Course area. The judge had noted that the race club has been operating on the 53.242-acre premises since a lease was first granted in 1926.
While terming the eviction notice illegal, the counsel appearing for the club had told the court that it was in “lawful occupation” and had been regularly paying ground rent.