Delhi HC seeks Govt’s stand on CSC de-recognition
The Delhi High Court on Thursday sought the Centre’s stand on a petition by the Central Secretariat Club (CSC) against the revocation of its recognition.
The club, formerly known as Talkatora Club, also assailed an eviction order by the Estate Officer asking it to immediately vacate its present premises in the President’s Estate. Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma issued notice to the central Government and asked it to file its response to the petition. A senior counsel for the petitioner urged the court to pass an order directing status quo in the matter, stating that “nothing would be left” if such a protection was not granted.
Declining the request, Justice Sharma said, “I don’t think so. List on August 24.” In its petition, the club said that on July 14, the Department of Personnel and Training arbitrarily, illegally, and unconstitutionally withdrew the recognition granted to it.
The petitioner said that instead of taking corrective action on its complaints regarding irregularities during the term of the ad hoc committee managing its affairs, the authorities first withdrew the recognition in February without issuing any show cause notice.
After the high court’s intervention, the petitioner was given a hearing and a fresh de-recognition order was passed on July 14.
The petition argued that the de-recognition order dated July 14 and eviction order dated July 17 were “ex facie arbitrary, malicious, unconstitutional, and constitute a brazen, colourable exercise of administrative power.”
It further contended, “The Respondents are attempting to weaponize their own administrative failures and the misdeeds of their ad hoc committee to forcefully dispossess and extinguish a historic institution, in flagrant violation of Article 14 of the Constitution of India and the fundamental principles of natural justice.”
The plea alleged that the eviction order arbitrarily treats a historic 107-year-old institution, which was given permanent occupancy, as an “unauthorised occupant”, solely on the basis of the illegal cancellation of allotment.
