New Delhi: Central govt on Saturday took physical possession of the 15.2-acre Jaipur Polo Ground in the Race Course area, after Indian Polo Association (IPA), which manages the facility, failed to get relief from court on an eviction notice by Land and Development Office (L&DO).L&DO officials pasted a notice on the front wall of the ground, which stated, “This is the property of Land & Development Office, Govt of India. Any unauthorised occupation, encroachment, construction or illegal activities is a punishable offence under the law.”IPA has termed the eviction “wrongful, arbitrary and contrary to law”, and said it would pursue all available legal remedies to safeguard its rights and interests.Refusing to grant interim relief to the association Friday, vacation judge Dhirendra Rana said he was not inclined to halt the implementation of the eviction order issued on May 20.Delhi High Court disposed of a plea on June 8, directing the Patiala House court to hear the association’s stay application on June 10 and asking the parties to appear before the district and sessions judge. While disposing of the matter, the vacation bench of the high court orally made critical observations regarding Centre’s proposed takeover and its probable impact on the current landscape of Lutyens’ Delhi.During Friday’s hearing, central govt’s standing counsel, Ashish Dixit, asked the court for more time to file its response to IPA’s challenge against the eviction order and its request to put the order on hold.The request was opposed by the IPA counsel, who urged the court to stay the execution of the order until central govt filed its response.In response, Dixit argued that the association had incorrectly submitted before Delhi High Court that its request for interim relief wasn’t considered by the district court and claimed that no separate stay application was filed by IPA.After hearing the parties, the judge noted that the district judge had not granted any stay on June 3 and that the writ petition filed by IPA before the high court was disposed of on June 8 without any interim protection. “Therefore, keeping in view the judicial discipline and propriety, I am not inclined to stay the execution of impugned order even till next date,” the court said, refusing to stay the eviction order while asking Centre to file its reply on June 17.
