New Delhi: Four years ago, Anil Kumar climbed the narrow staircase of Sir Sobha Singh Building in Ajmeri Gate and entered the cramped passage leading to the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, or BMS, office. Former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee once lived in that building and helped build the Jan Sangh, the political predecessor of the BJP.
Now, the same building is mired in a controversy over its ownership and rent. And Kumar lives here alone.
“This building is part of the Jan Sangh’s history and revival. It is a sacrosanct place for us,” said Kumar, who has been associated with the RSS for over three decades. “The fact that Vajpayee ji lived here gives me the motivation and energy required to dedicate my life to the Sangh.”
It started in 2021, when Sir Sobha Singh Public Charitable Trust filed an “eviction petition” against the BMS before the district court in Tis Hazari, alleging non-payment of rent since 2006. The petition also alleged that parts of the premises had been occupied or altered without authorisation. It also claimed that the accommodation has been registered in the names of two individuals and not BMS—the labour wing of RSS.
“During the visit by a representative of my client in 2020, the following was observed in respect of the tenanted premises: that the open balcony/veranda in front of the tenanted premises has been covered illegally and unauthorisedly,” the petition states.
In the thick of Ajmeri Gate’s bustling wholesale hardware and tools market stands the ageing building of Sardar Bahadur Sir Sobha Singh. Singh was the civil contractor and builder known as the “maker of New Delhi” and was once considered the largest real-estate owner in the capital city.
Decades later, the building stands weathered by time. Its paint is peeling, overhead wires are tangled in its ledges, and the ground floor is lined with hardware and electrical shops and small eateries. Atop the building, a flag hangs not fluttering but drooping against the crumbling facade. It is where, on the upper floors, the office of BMS is.
Kumar, whose modest accommodation consists of a bed, a chair and an almirah stacked with books on Bharat Mata, nation and religion, along with a small temple, says he knows little about the dispute. The rent, he says, is taken care of by the BMS’s national headquarters on Deendayal Upadhyaya Marg.
“No one ever came here to ask about the rent. It was all handled by the headquarters. So, I have no clue,” said Kumar, wearing broken spectacles as he read news reports about the court hearing.
Sublet to BMS
The petition states that the rented accommodation belonged to Desraj Gupta and Jagdish Prasad Mathur. Both Desraj and Mathur have passed away. Deshraj was the son of Hansraj Gupta, the late mayor of Delhi. The other respondents include three sons of Deshraj. One of these sons is Rajendra, who was an ex-mayor and former general secretary of BJP Delhi.
However, the lawyer representing BMS, Adarsh Tiwari, says that the allegation is misconstrued.
“This is in regard to four flats in possession. In 2019, they sent a notice that you are required to pay me a certain amount of rent and that they have come to know that these four premises had been rented out — sublet to you from Gupta and Mathur,” Tiwari told ThePrint. “These were the two persons who originally took these four premises on rent, and these were the functionaries of Jansangh and RSS.”
Tiwari says the four premises now function as the BMS state office. The organisation is affiliated with the RSS.
“So now they are sending us a notice saying they don’t know who we are. They say they only know Mathur and Gupta. But the BMS has been occupying these premises for decades. It’s not as if we have just entered them,” Tiwari said. “So it’s absurd that they claim they have been in the dark for decades about who was occupying their premises.”
But for advocate Anand Singh, representing Sir Sobha Singh Building, the petition was born out of two accounts: non-payment of rent and subletting of the premises.
“The case was filed by the Trust in 2021 and is purely a landlord-tenant dispute. The case was filed on two accounts: non-payment of rent and subletting by recorded tenant to existing occupant, i.e. BKMS,” Singh said.
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‘Renovation exceeded the rent’
In the cramped lanes of Ajmeri Gate’s crowded market, everyone is talking about the rent dispute. From the chai tapris to conversations inside the tiny shops and during lunch breaks, the story has travelled through the market. The shopkeepers say that they had heard whispers about it for years, but never knew exactly what lay behind them.
Just below the BMS office, Suresh Dhall runs a travel agency from a small office on the first floor. He has been operating from the same space for the past 15 years. For Dhall, the BMS is the first-stop solution for workers who have been laid off or lost their jobs.
The organisation, he says, has a reputation among shopkeepers: if an employer sacks a worker without following due process, the disgruntled employee will approach the BMS, which then takes up the complaint and, if needed, helps pursue the matter in court for compensation.
“Every month BMS holds a meeting in which the entire building is packed with over 50 people. They take out the march and speak about workers’ rights,” said Dhall.
Dhall, too, had heard about the rent dispute, but he didn’t know that it had reached the court until last year. Dhall says that he pays Rs 8,000 to Sir Sobha Singh Building at the start of the year. The money covers the rent for the entire year.
“The rent is so minimal that it barely pinches the storekeepers. I really find it weird that they (BMS) didn’t pay the rent,” said Dhall. “Everyone says that BMS has occupied the premises illegally.”
But Tiwari says that there was an understanding between the building owners and the BMS regarding the rent. He agrees that the rent has not been paid, but it was done to cover the renovation costs.
“The renovation work was started in 2006, and till date, we have spent more than Rs 8 lakh and the total outstanding rent till date since 2006 is RS 5 lakh. The rent per month was somewhere between Rs 800 and Rs 1200. So, even if you count with interest, it won’t go above 12 lakh,” said Tiwari. “So, we have put before the court that it is not the case of subletting or not paying the rent but a mutual understanding.”
According to Tiwari, the four premises were in a structurally bad condition. When BMS approached the trust, they were asked to carry out the renovation work and said that it would be adjusted in the rent.
“We got the roof repaired, bathrooms repaired; walls were in complete disarray; the plaster was coming off. And as per the understanding, the renovation exceeded the rent,” said Tiwari.
But the advocate representing Sir Sobha Singh Building has denied any such understanding.
Inside the BMS office, one wall is covered with a long calendar of Bharat Mata, while others have portraits of RSS functionaries, including MS Golwalkar and Dattopant Thengadi, the founder of the BMS.
Kumar, who is surrounded by volunteers during the day, spends his night alone thinking about the RSS functionaries who submitted themselves to the RSS for the betterment of the nation. And this location particularly inspires him.
“This location has a lot of mosques and a few churches. So, whenever we take out a march with our saffron flags, it feels like we are asserting Hindutva before them. It gives me peace,” he says.
(Edited by Saptak Datta)