Expiry of lease: Delhi High Court orders DDA not to take coercive steps against Roshanara Club

The Delhi High Court recently ordered the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to not take any coercive steps against Delhi's century old Roshanara Club just because its lease has expired. .Justice Mini Pushkarna passed the order noting that the club has been in existence for more than 100 years, and has contributed immensely to the society in terms of various sports and has granted access to various players of national importance for playing in its grounds. The judge further said that there is no allegation that the club has misused the premises in any manner or that it is in default of the fees payable to the DDA. "The only ground for taking action against the petitioner club is that the lease of the petitioner has expired... In view of the aforesaid detailed discussion, it is directed that no coercive steps be taken against the petitioner club solely on the ground that the lease of the petitioner club has already expired," the Court ordered. .The Roshanara club was founded in the year 1922 by a group of British, bureaucrats and the "emerging Indian elite". On April 12, 2023, the DDA issued the eviction order to the club. The Court was told that the club had sent a representation to the DDA to renew its lease in August 2018. The DDA responded in September 2018 and said that the representation was under consideration. .After examining the case, the Court noted that the scheme and policy of the DDA for renewal of the long term expired leases, was still under consideration and no final decision with respect to it has been taken yet.The bench also observed that in similar circumstances when the lease deed of Delhi Golf Club expired in the year 2018, the DDA renewed the lease/licence of the Delhi Golf Club. Justice Pushkarna, therefore, granted interim relief to the petitioner club. She also granted them the liberty to take appropriate steps in terms of the statutory remedies available against the eviction order. .Senior Advocates Sandeep Sethi and Mohit Mathur along with advocates Sameer Rohatgi, Lalltaksh Joshi, Nishant Yadav, Manish Aggarwal, Shreya Sethi, Vikram Singh Dalal, Tanvi Tewari, Virender Mehta, Abhinav Shokeen and Prabhat Gandhi appeared for the Roshanara Club. The DDA was represented through its Standing Counsel Manika Tripathy and advocate Shubham Hasija. .[Read Order]