NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court on Monday pulled up the central government over its plans to take over properties in the Lutyen’s Delhi area, including the Delhi Gymkhana Club and the Polo Ground, saying, “Delhi will choke.”
Justice Neena Bansal Krishna, while hearing the case, said that green spaces in Delhi were “anyway scarce”, and the “little green space” remaining in the NDMC (New Delhi Municipal Corporation) area is also being taken over.
“The little breather we have in the NDMC area is also going to go, and all of us are going to suffocate and die. This has been going on for years together. Go to any colony; we have 20-storey houses. Every colony has been demolished. What you want to turn Delhi into, only you know… Delhi will choke. God save us all if this is how you want Delhi to live,” the judge said.
The judge disposed of the plea while directing the trial court to decide their application for stay on eviction notice forthwith. The judge directed the trial court to hear the stay application on Wednesday.
The judge made the remarks while hearing a plea filed by the Indian Polo Association over the government’s eviction notice. The remarks came after the central government’s standing counsel defended the government’s decision, saying that “the land was required for public and defence purposes”.
The counsel claimed that there was limited space in the central Delhi area and that the government’s functions needed to be carried out “from this area itself”.
The judge questioned if the government was planning to make high rises in the area.
“Delhi people go to some ‘chota mota’ mountain and stay there? Delhi won’t be for us. It is a small lung that we have, and you want to take away that also? Take it away. Ensure people do not come to Delhi.
Making all high rises. Is it in the public interest? We have only high rises all over,” the judge said. The central government has asked the petitioner to vacate its premises, citing public welfare.
In the case of Gymkhana Club, the government had earlier told the court that the eviction, if any, will be carried out following prior notice. The petitions submitted to the court had claimed that the land had been granted to the club on a perpetual lease in 1928.
Trial court directed to decide on eviction stay
The judge disposed of the plea while directing the trial court to decide the application for stay on eviction notice forthwith on Wednesday. The judge passed the order while hearing a plea filed by the Indian Polo Association over the government’s eviction notice. The Centre had defended the notice citing “public and defence purposes”.
