The Supreme Court has upheld the decision of the Delhi High Court that ordered eviction of the elite South Delhi Club from a posh South Delhi locality and handing over of the possession to a charitable trust controlled by DLF chairman KP Singh and his family.
A bench comprising justice GS Singhvi and justice AK Ganguly has upheld the High Court?s eviction order against the 44-year-old club in Greater Kailash-I?s M Block market.
?? in our opinion, the club is not entitled to any equitable relief under Article 136 of the Constitution having regard to its conduct? Its case was dismissed on several occasions. The club also adopted dilatory tactics in prolonging the litigation,? justice Ganguly said in its judgment and imposed costs of Rs 25,000 on the club.
The club members had challenged the High Court decision of January 2009 that asked the club to vacate and hand over possession to the Lal Chand Public Charitable Trust, an arm of DLF, the original developer of the colony.
The trust was represented through its trustees Raghuvendera Singh, KP Singh and his wife Indira, vice-chairman Rajiv Singh, Renuka Talwar and director TC Goyal.
The club, which has 1,500 members and around 125 employees, argued that the trust had divested itself from its ownership over the property and had ceased to be its owner, thus was not entitled to any beneficiary interest.
It submitted that the club was developed by DLF in accordance with the sanctioned plans and after a protracted legal battle between the coloniser and the Muncipal Corporation of Delhi .
Now the property vests with the muncipal body, it added.
Stating that its termination was valid, the trust stated that the club had defaulted in the payment of lease rent and it had no option but to terminate the sub-lease.
The HC had passed eviction orders on the grounds that the club had failed to comply with the lease deed condition of paying the lease money between 1996 and 1998.