The Supreme Court was apprised by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) that their party office which is located at the Rouse Avenue court area is not an encroachment .
The AAP party said that the area was allocated to the party in accordance with law much before it was earmarked for the the Rouse Avenue court complex extension.
AAP filed an application before the top court questioning the observations made in February 13 order which stated that AAP office at Rouse Avenue was built over “encroached land” which legally belonged to the Delhi High Court after it was legally allocated for extension.
The application by AAP said that far from being an instance of ‘encroachment’, the Subject Premises were officially allotted to the Applicant by the Government of NCT of Delhi (‘GNCTD’) on 31.12.2015 for its State Unit Office. This was strictly in accordance with the Applicant’s entitlement as (at that time) a State Party under the Office Memorandum dated 14.10.2015.
The application also highlighted that a notice of cancellation of the said allotment was set aside by the Delhi High Court by an order dated August 23, 2017.
On February 13,the Supreme Court had made adverse observations after it was informed by Amicus Curiae K Parameshwar that Delhi High Court officials went for taking possession of certain land allotted to them,but were unable to do so due to a political party office was built there.
A bench comprising of Chief Justice of India (CIJ) DY Chandrachud and Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra while dealing with a case concerning judicial infrastructure across the country took note of the matter.
An application was filed in the court by AAP seeking intervention in the matter stating that it should be heard before the Court passes directions in the matter.
In the application it was clearly metioned that the allotment of office space for official party work is an essential element of public funding of elections in India and is designed to level the electoral playing field.
Citing Policy Guidelines for Allotment of Land to Political Parties of 2012 issued by the Land & Development Office (L&DO), Government of India, the AAP party claim that AAP is entitled to two office spaces in Delhi – one for its national unit and another for its Delhi State unit.
The application by AAP also stated that the space that was duly allotted to it in 2015 and is in its possession since then.
The application clearly states that the subject premises had been in the applicant’s occupation long before it was earmarked for extending the Rouse Avenue Court Complex.
The party however conceded that it is aware of the necessity of judicial infrastructure for the welfare of Delhi’s citizens and has no cavils about relocating its State unit office to an appropriate, alternative space.
AAP questioned the due diligence by the L&DO for not examining the pre-existing status of the land and its vacancy.
The party said that even though it made requests for an alternative space in 2017, the request was not heeded to.
As per the plea AAP is ready to vacate the present premises at Rouse avenue if it is allotted at least one out of two spaces it is entitled to in the New Delhi Municipal area.