A Patiala House Court in Delhi has directed the attachment of the Iconic Bikaner House after the Nokha municipal council in Rajasthan which owns the historic building failed to pay an arbitral award of Rs 50.31 lakh to Enviro Infra Engineers Private Limited. The court passed the order on an application seeking enforcement of the arbitral award passed by the arbitral tribunal in January 2020. Bikaner House was designed as the residence of the Rajput rulers of the princely state of Bikaner.
Bikaner House was built during the rule of Maharaja Ganga Singh, Maharaja of princely state of Bikaner (1887 to 1943 AD). Categorised as a Grade II heritage building by the Archeological Survey of India, Bikaner House has been meticulously restored to its original form. It opened to the public on November 18, 2015.
After the attachment order, the Nagar Palika of Nokha cannot transfer or liquidate the property by sale, gift or otherwise. The court has directed the representative of the Nokha Nagar Palika to appear before the court on November 29, the next date of hearing.The Rajasthan government, meanwhile, said it will take immediate action in the matter.
In its five-page order, District Judge (Commercial Court) Vidya Prakash, noted that the 2020 arbitral award in favour of Enviro Infra Engineers Private Limited has attained finality after an appeal preferred by the Nagar Palika was dismissed earlier this year. “Keeping in view the aforesaid facts and circumstances and the fact that the JD had failed to comply with the direction for furnishing affidavit of their assets despite grant of repeated opportunities, Court while agreeing with the submissions made on behalf of DH, finds it a fit case for issuance of warrants of attachment against immovable property of Judgement Debtor (JD )i.e. Bikaner House, New Delhi”.
“Accordingly, issue warrants of attachment of immovable property of JD i.e. Bikaner House, New Delhi situated within territorial jurisdiction of this Court on taking requisite steps by DH, in accordance with the provisions contained in Order XXI Rule 54 CPC, which shall state that the judgement debtor (JD) is prohibited from transferring or charging the property in any way, and all persons from taking any benefit from such transfer or charge and shall further require the JD to attend this Court on the next date to be so fixed by this Court, in order to take notice of the date to be fixed for settling the terms of the proclamation of sale, returnable for next date,” reads the orderIn an order passed on September 18, the judge had noted the non-compliance of the court’s directions.
In 1911, during the grand ceremonies of the Delhi Durbar, King George V announced that the Capital of British India was to be moved from Calcutta to Delhi. The intention was to create a grand imperial presence in historic Delhi. While in use as a royal residence, the ground floor hosted the reception suites, private rooms and guest rooms, while the zenana, or women’s quarters, was on the first floor. Its present form still reflects the regal grandeur and taste of its original patrons.
Around the time of Indian Independence in 1947, Bikaner House was the venue for many important meetings between Indian royal families, who deliberated their futures. This was where they considered the accession policy that would allow them to formally join independent India.
