The Delhi High Court is scheduled to hear on Tuesday a lawsuit filed by members of the Delhi Gymkhana Club against the Centre’s order asking the club to hand over its premises to the government by June 5.

The Centre has asked the club in Lutyens’ Delhi to hand over its premises, citing that the 27.3-acre land parcel was required for “strengthening and securing defence infrastructure”.

‘Vague reasons’

Vijay Khurana, a 79-year-old Gymkhana Club member who filed the lawsuit, said that the “vague and generalised reasons” of defence infrastructure and security given by the Centre were just a “sham” and the move was an “attempt to effect forced eviction” instead of following the due process of law. The takeover is through a “premeditated and coordinated design” and not for any “genuine or emergent public requirement”, the plea claimed.

It seeks to restrain the Central government from “illegally determining” the Gymkhana Club’s perpetual leasehold rights and to prevent any forced dispossession from the historic premises situated on 2, Safdarjung Road, adjacent to the Prime Minister’s residence on Lok Kalyan Marg.

The lawsuit said urgent interim protection was necessary in this case, claiming that the Centre has threatened to take possession of the plot of land on June 5 through “coercive measures” and police assistance, which will result in an “irreversible” and “irreparable” situation.

In the lawsuit, Mr. Khurana emphasised that the Delhi Gymkhana Club and its members have invested substantial resources towards the development, maintenance and modernisation of the club. The plea also asserted that the Centre’s notice, dated May 22, neither provides for any compensation nor does it establish a “bona fide public purpose” in terms of the perpetual lease deed to unilaterally extinguish the “century-old” rights.

In 2022, the National Company Law Tribunal permitted the appointment of 15 government-nominated directors on the club’s general committee after the Ministry of Corporate Affairs filed a plea alleging oppression and mismanagement in its affairs.