Delhi court refuses to pause Delhi Race Club eviction order

The Delhi Race Club will not get an interim halt on the Centre’s eviction order for its 53.4-acre property on Race Course Road, near the Prime Minister’s residence and Delhi Golf Club.

Principal district and sessions judge Pitamber Dutt of the Patiala House courts dismissed the club’s plea on Tuesday, holding that it had failed to establish a prima facie case for staying the estate officer’s August 11 order.

The club had argued that it was not given a copy of the plaint during the estate-officer proceedings, and that its lease had been extended because it had deposited the sum sought and regularly paid use-and-occupation charges.

The Centre disputed this, saying no lease deed or lease extension had been executed after 1994 and that the club’s occupation thereafter was month to month. It also said the club had received the plaint and had not presented a defence despite several opportunities.

The court rejected the club’s arguments on both the plaint and rent payments. It said the sum deposited was recoverable damages up to July 2013, not lease-extension payment, and added that rent paid after a lease expires does not amount to renewal.

The eviction proceedings had resumed after the Delhi High Court’s May 27 order.