New Delhi, Nov 4 (PTI) The Delhi High Court on Wednesday said it will hear on November 19 lawsuits over Centre’s proceedings against the Delhi Gymkhana Club for its eviction from the 27.3-acre premises on Safdarjung Road here.
Justice Manoj Jain noted that a coordinate bench of the high court has already passed an order that the estate officer may continue with the proceedings under the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorized Occupants) Act, but will not pass final order till the next date of hearing, that is, November 17.
“In view of the order passed by the coordinate bench (in another petition relating to the Gymkhana issue), there is no requirement of passing of any further orders at this stage,” Justice Jain said and listed the lawsuits on November 19.
The court was hearing two separate lawsuits filed by Gymkhana member Vijay Khurana and Delhi Gymkhana Club Ltd Staff Welfare Association.
They have filed the lawsuits against the Land and Development Office (L&DO)’s May 22 order terminating the colonial-era club’s perpetual lease deed and asking it to return its land by June 5 on grounds of “strengthening and securing defence infrastructure”.
During the hearing, the court noted that though the estate officer has continued with the proceedings, after the October 16 order of the coordinate bench, he has taken note of the direction not to pass the final order.
The single-judge bench of Justice Amit Mahajan, in October, sought the Centre’s response on a plea by several members of Delhi Gymkhana Club challenging the government’s decision to take over the club and the subsequent eviction proceedings.
Khurana’s lawsuit is stated to be supported by more than 500 club members.
They have also filed applications seeking a stay on the June 29 show-cause notice for eviction issued to the club’s management by an estate officer of the L&DO.
The Centre has earlier said it would not take any coercive action in relation to the eviction for the time being.
The Centre, in its response to the main matter, has asserted that lawsuits were liable to be dismissed.
It has said that third parties cannot restrain the enforcement of rights arising from the now-determined lease deed between the authorities and the club for the land parcel.
The lawsuit filed by the Gymkhana staff has said they are the cooks, waiters, kitchen and housekeeping staff, gardeners and groundsmen, electricians and plumbers, lifeguards, security personnel, etc working in the club and sought the protection of their source of livelihood as well as fundamental rights under Articles 14, 19(1)(g) and 21 of the Constitution.
Seeking to quash the Centre’s May 22 notice, their plea said Delhi Gymkhana Club was not a place of leisure for them but their place of work.
Khurana has said in his lawsuit that the “vague” and “generalised” reasons of defence infrastructure and security given by the Centre were just a “sham”.
The move, he claimed, was an “attempt to effect forced eviction” instead of following the due process of law.
In his interim application, Khurana has said the June 29 notice proceeds on “entirely erroneous and premature assumptions”, which strike at the substratum of their pending lawsuit.
The application said the show-cause notice was “pre-mature” as it wrongly presumed that the Gymkhana Club’s perpetual lease was validly terminated. PTI SKV SKV KVK
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