‘Process of taking back government land will continue’: Union Minister Manohar Lal on Delhi Gymkhana Club lease termination
Not just the Delhi Gymkhana Club, but other prominent lessees, including the Delhi Race Club, have also been asked to vacate the land.
The Delhi Gymkhana Club has been asked to vacate the land by June 5. (File Photo) Days after the Union Government started the process of taking back the land leased to the Delhi Gymkhana Club, Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Manohar Lal Monday said the government could take back land needed for any other purpose and that this process would be followed wherever necessary.
In his first remarks on the issue since the Ministry’s Land and Development Office on May 22 wrote to the club to vacate the land by June 5 as it was required for “defence infrastructure”, the minister said: “Land is a basic feature of urban development… In most cases, it has been given on lease. The leased land can be vacated upon expiry of the lease or even before that for any other use… The land we are taking back today will be put to use as per the requirements, and this work will carry on… There is no other source of land, so we will have to use this land for development needs.”
Manohar Lal made the remarks while replying to a question at a press briefing on the BRICS Urbanisation Forum to be hosted by the Ministry in Delhi on June 11-12.
In its May 22 letter, the Land and Development Office wrote to the Delhi Gymkhana Club, “Whereas, it has been determined that the said premises, located in a highly sensitive and strategic area of Delhi, is critically required for the strengthening and securing of Defence infrastructure and other vital public security purposes. The land is essential to fulfil urgent institutional needs, governance infrastructure, and public-interest projects, integrated with the resumption of adjoining government lands.”
Not just the Delhi Gymkhana Club, but other prominent lessees, including the Delhi Race Club, have also been asked to vacate the land. Last week, the Delhi High Court vacated a stay on the eviction proceedings started by the Land and Development Office against the Race Club.
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