Delhi High Court to hear plea over eviction from Jaipur Polo Ground on July 9
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday listed for hearing on July 9 the Indian Polo Association's petition challenging a sessions court order that refused to
The Delhi High Court on Wednesday listed for hearing on July 9 the Indian Polo Association's petition challenging a sessions court order that refused to stay the Centre's May 20 eviction order from the 15.20-acre Jaipur Polo Ground in the national capital. Justice Harish Vaidyanathan Shankar deferred the matter after noting that a copy of the sessions court's decision was not yet available with the parties. Read Full Story During the hearing, the Centre told the court that no alteration would be made to the polo turf in the meantime, addressing the petitioner's concerns over digging at the ground. Referring to the status of the property, Justice Shankar told the Centre's lawyer, "You are anyway in possession. Therefore, there is no hurry to tear it up right now." Central government counsel Ashish Dixit replied, "On 29th (June) also, I made this statement that we are not going to do anything." Dixit had told a vacation bench on June 29 that the polo ground was being demarcated for raising a boundary and that nothing was being done on the turf where the sport is played.
Senior advocate Kirtiman Singh, appearing for the Indian Polo Association, said the appeal against the eviction order was listed before the sessions court on July 23 and sought directions to the authorities not to "destroy" the polo ground till then. "Request today is, if they can hold their hand and not spoil the turf till the matter is heard. They have possession of the property. Till the matter is heard, don't destroy the turf because that will cause irreparable (injury)," he submitted. As the high court fixed the matter for July 9, Singh also asked the Centre's counsel to allow the petitioner to inspect the polo ground. "We are not passing any order. You ask him," the judge said. In its plea, the Indian Polo Association has challenged the sessions court's June 18 order, passed in its capacity as the appellate authority under the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act.
The sessions court had rejected the association's interim application seeking restoration of possession of the Jaipur Polo Ground, a stay on the enforcement and execution of the May 20 eviction order, and restraint against demolition, uprooting, digging, disturbing or altering the ground. The petitioner had also sought reasonable access for routine maintenance, preservation and upkeep of the polo turf and related sporting infrastructure. The petition said the rejection of its interim application was ex facie erroneous. It said the authorities had already taken possession of the Jaipur Polo Ground during the pendency of the appeal and started "irreversible activities" such as digging, uprooting and other physical alterations of the land and turf, which would render the matter infructuous. "The Jaipur Polo Ground is a specialised sporting facility and not ordinary vacant land. Its turf requires continuous mowing, irrigation, levelling, aeration, rolling, grass-cover management, weed control and upkeep by trained ground staff," the plea said.
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