The Delhi High Court on Tuesday sought response from the Central government on a petition filed by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) seeking suitable land for construction of its offices for both national and state unit.
The single-judge Bench of Justice Subramonium Prasad directed the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to file its response within six weeks and listed the matter for further hearing on April 23, 2024.
The petition filed by AAP contended that being a recognised political party, it should be allotted land in Delhi, which was free from encroachments and encumbrances
and preferably located in central areas, so that the construction for office space may be commenced immediately.
The petition placed reliance on a Memorandum issued by the Union government in 2006 prescribing allotment of land up to 500 square meters to all national political parties having up to 15 Members of Parliament (MPs) in both Houses.
It noted that the Memorandum further provided additional allocation of land up to 500 square meters for Delhi State units, where a national party had representation in the Delhi State legislature.
The petition challenged two letters vide which its request for allotment of suitable land for construction of its offices was rejected by the Centre.
The plea alleged that rejection was done on vague and frivolous grounds.
It said the refusal of the respondent to allot land to the petitioner for construction of its National and State Unit offices at New Delhi despite clear entitlement to the same and despite the passage of almost six months since its recognition as a national party was not only arbitrary, but also discriminatory.
Such a refusal was all the more egregious as Aam Aadmi Party was a party in Opposition and hence, it was incumbent on the Centre to enable full exercise of democratic freedoms by those in Opposition, instead of ‘misusing’ their power to ‘curtail’ such rights, it further alleged.
The petition said the refusal to allot land has placed AAP at great disadvantage in comparison to other national parties and thus, violated the very ethos of a democratic parliamentary system, preventing the party from functioning properly in the absence of proper office premises.
(Case title: Aam Aadmi Party vs Union of India & Others)