Supreme Court grants AAP time till June 15 to vacate its offices

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday granted Aam Aadmi Party time till June 15, 2024 to vacate its office at Rouse Avenue, saying that the land was allotted to the Delhi High Court to expand the district judiciary footprint, and “after 2017, the party has no lawful right to be in occupation”.

A bench of Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, however, noted that advocate K Parmeshwar, counsel, representing the Delhi High Court, has submitted that the statement which was recorded in the previous order to the effect that the AAP party is an encroacher is not reflective of the position of the high court. 

The bench said that the high court is only concerned with the completion of its project at the Rouse Avenue land in Delhi.“In view of impending general elections, we grant time till June 15, 2024, to vacate the premises. So that the land which was allotted for the purpose of expanding footprints of district judiciary can be duly utilized on expeditious basis,” the bench said.

The court allowed AAP, represented by senior advocate A M Singhvi to move the Land and Development Office (L&DO) for allotment of land in accordance with law.“We would request the L&DO to process the application and communicate its decision within a period of four weeks,” the bench said.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, clarified that chief secretary, Delhi government, did not make that statement regarding the encroachment by AAP, and somewhere in the news it came.“The position on record is that in 2015 they were placed in possession, it was the party in power through Cabinet placing the party in power in possession, which was revoked in 2017. Thereafter, it was remanded to competent authority in 2017, so they have been encroachers since 2017 but that is not relevant,” Mehta said.

Singhvi said they are labelling the party as an encroacher and this is not fair. The bench told Singhvi, “Actually speaking, after 2017 you have no lawful right to be in occupation that you cannot deny.”Singhvi said that the party should be given space for headquarters in central Delhi, as it is a national party and all national parties offices are located in central Delhi. Singhvi opposed allotting land to the party in Badarpur, in Delhi. 

At the outset, the bench told Singhvi, “You can’t oppose land for Delhi High Court. You must be supporting us..be with the judiciary on this”. 

Singhvi said the party cannot be left on road office-less before Lok Sabha polls. 

Mehta said AAP should not be allowed to hold the Supreme Court and Delhi High Court to ransom to secure for itself a new office in central Delhi. 

When AAP insisted that it will vacate only after given an alternative plot in keeping with its status as a national party, the bench told AAP counsel Singhvi that the party should find a way for  taking appropriate steps and apply with the L& DO

"You cannot use our good offices for getting a land or building allotted," the bench told Singhvi.

The court said that land in question was meant to construct additional courtrooms for the Rouse Avenue court.