The Delhi High Court on Monday asked a district court to decide on a plea by the Indian Polo Association seeking a stay on a government notice to evict them from the 15.20-acre Jaipur Polo Ground in the Race Course area.
A vacation Bench of Justice Neena Bansal Krishna directed the parties to appear before the District and Sessions Judge for a hearing on June 10.
Even as the counsel for the Indian Polo Association urged the Bench to pass an order restraining the authorities from evicting them during the pendency of the stay application, Central Government counsel Ashish Dixit submitted that the execution of the notice was not likely till Friday.
Asked for the reason for eviction, the Central Government counsel informed the court that the land in possession of the Polo Ground as well as other nearby establishments, including the Delhi Gymkhana Club, was being taken over for public purposes.
The court expressed its concern about the fate of the heritage structures in such properties, and lamented the construction of high-rises in the capital amid rising pollution.
“Delhi will suffocate. Whatever little breather we have in the NDMC area that is going to go. We will all suffocate and die,” Justice Krishna orally said. The court also observed that the government did not feel the need to take over the land in 200 years, and asked if making high-rises was in public interest.
“What are you going to make Delhi into? Delhi people go to ‘chhota-mota’ mountain and stay there. It is a small lung that we have and you want to take away that also. Ensure that people stop coming to Delhi. We have only highrises all over. All two-storey buildings are gone. Every colony has been demolished. If this is how you want Delhi to live, then God help us,” the court orally remarked during the hearing.
“You (the state) have the might. But the thing is, Delhi will choke,” it added.
The Central Government lawyer said the Capital has limited space, and the government also requires land to carry out its functions.
The Indian Polo Association, in its petition, said it has filed an appeal against the Estate Officer’s May 20 eviction order for the Jaipur Polo Ground before the District & Sessions Judge, Patiala House Court, along with an application seeking interim stay, as per the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1971.
The plea said although coercive eviction was imminent on June 4, neither the appeal nor the urgent prayer for a stay of the eviction order was considered by the district judge on June 3, and the matter was adjourned to July 23 after issuance of notice.
