Press Club in HC seeking possession of plot 'allotted' to it by Centre

The Delhi High Court has sought the Centre's response on a plea by the Press Club of India seeking possession of a plot which was allegedly allotted to it in March 2002 to construct a club.

Justice Vibhu Bakhru asked the Centre's Land and Development Office (L&DO) not to allot the plot to anyone till the next date of hearing on October 12.

The Central government's standing counsel Anurag Ahluwalia, appearing for the L&DO, assured the court that the land in question would not be allotted to any one and the authority has only called for a meeting with the Press Club's officials.

The club in its plea has claimed that it had initially paid an amount of Rs 1.43 crore and later in 2014 and 2017 it had paid Rs 1.31 crore and Rs 2.45 crore, respectively, towards ground rent and interest of the plot on Dr Rajendra Prasad Road here.

It has said that on June 19, 2018, the L&DO sent a letter to the Press Club, asking it to take possession of the land on June 20.

However, on June 20 a text message was sent to the club that possession could not be handed over that day and despite several follow up letters sent by the Press Club on handover of the land, no response was received, the petition has said.

Thereafter, on August 16 the L&DO asked the Secretary General of the Press Club to appear before it along with a copy of its balance sheet and bank statements of last six months, documents related to proposed funding of the construction and action plan of the work.