In a setback for Samaresh Jung, who has returned to India after coaching bronze medallist shooters Manu Bhakar and Sarabjot Singh at the Paris Olympics, the Delhi High Court on Monday refused to stay the Union housing and urban affairs ministry’s eviction notice for 32 acres of land at Khyber Pass in Civil Lines. The notice was issued on March 1 by the ministry’s Land and Development Office directing the occupants in the 32 acres to vacate “all unauthorised occupation and remove illegal constructions from the land immediately” by March 4. With Jung present in the courtroom, his lawyer Rahul Sharma argued before Justice Sanjeev Narula that he was the “highest medal winner in Commonwealth Games”, but the court held that in light of the decisions already taken in the matter by the high court in an earlier round of litigation, it cannot carve out an exception for him. The government counsel said that while Jung “may have done some great service for the country, unfortunately it is public land”. While advocate Sharma submitted that the March 1 notice was liable to be struck down and that it was arbitrary and in violation of principles of natural justice, with no showcause notice served, the court held that the matter had already been decided on various legal aspects in an earlier batch of petitions. The court held that Jung would not be “put to a pedestal of lessee” in the absence of documentary proof and with no agreement to this effect having been executed between him and the respondents. It added that the payment of property tax did not give him any legal right over the property.
