NEW DELHI: A member of the Delhi Gymkhana Club on Monday moved the Delhi High Court challenging the government's move to take over the 27.3-acre property.
The suit, filed by a longtime member Vijay Khurana, alleged that the Centre is attempting to forcibly evict Delhi Gymkhana Club from its historic Safdarjung Road premises through an executive notice without due process.
According to the plaint, the Centre directed the Club to hand over possession of the entire property by June 5, 2026, after invoking Clause 4 of the perpetual lease deed dated February 28, 1928, which permits re-entry for a "public purpose".
Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi on Monday mentioned the matter before a Bench of Justice Avneesh Jhingan seeking urgent listing of the suit. The Court agreed to hear the matter on Tuesday.
The civil suit has been filed against the Union of India through the Land & Development Office (L&DO), Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, along with Delhi Gymkhana Club Limited.
The petition claimed that the lease deed confers proprietary rights on Gymkhana Club and these rights cannot be extinguished in an “arbitrary manner”.
The suit also urged the court to grant a permanent injunction to restrain the government from "illegally determining the perpetual leasehold rights” of the club.
The petition claimed that the government has given vague and generalised reasons of defence infrastructure, public security purposes and governance infrastructure for takeover of the club, with no particular material provided. The government move amounts to a sham, it claimed.
The government reportedly stated that the land, located near the Prime Minister’s residence and other high-security installations in Lutyens’ Delhi, was needed for “strengthening and securing of defence infrastructure,” governance facilities and other “vital public security purposes”.
“The government is not providing any compensation in respect of the loss of the property, the premium paid, or the buildings and structures standing on the premises,” the petition claimed.
It claimed that the order was a “malicious and colourable exercise, being the last in a series of acts by the government to gain control over the institution”, including a recent attempt to take over the management of the institution.
“The notice amounts to an attempt to effect forced eviction through executive force, administrative fiat and threat/ exercise of police power instead of following the due process of law. The notice is in flagrant violation of Article 300A of the Constitution of India since the government had itself, in a letter dated December 18, 2009, has unambiguously confirmed that the perpetual lease deed confers proprietary rights on Gymkhana Club and these rights cannot be extinguished in an arbitrary manner without an acquisition process with all the attendant safeguards and payment of compensation,” it claimed.
