What is the Sujan Singh Park case? 70-year-old battle over prime Delhi property explained

The northern block of Sujan Singh Park in Delhi, a large government housing project built during the British era, has been caught in a legal dispute for nearly 70 years. The government has now restarted eviction proceedings under the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act.

The 7.58-acre complex, which overlooks the upscale Khan Market, was intended as residential accommodation for “officers and non-officers of good standing” at the time.

It is managed by its original builder, Sir Sobha Singh and Sons, and was home to his family, including his son, writer Khushwant Singh. It also houses the iconic Ambassador hotel.

The hotel is one of the key violations now being cited by the government.

Start of project

Around 1942-1943, the British government toyed with the proposal of allotting two adjoining plots to build residences. The idea was for a private enterprise to take up construction instead of the government.

In December 1944, amid World War 2, it allotted the two sites in the north and south of the junction of Cornwallis Road (now Subramania Bharati Marg) and Humayun Road, measuring 7.58 acres each, for constructing about 100 residential flats.

Sir Sobha Singh and Sons, the private limited company, was incorporated to execute the project.

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As per the understanding between the then Government and Sir Sobha Singh, the former would grant a perpetual lease of the site on completion while the construction was to be undertaken at the builder’s cost.

At the time, the government had stated that so long as the war continues — and for one year thereafter — the Labour Department shall have the right to use the whole building or any part of it by paying rent.

After that period, the government would be entitled to “require that a certain number of flats, not exceeding 50% of the total, be leased to officials named by them, at a fair rent…”

Lease agreements and construction

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Two nearly identical lease agreements were signed on October 8, 1945, for each plot. One of the clauses stated that no forfeiture or re-entry is to be effected unless the lessor (government) serves in writing to the lessees (Sir Sobha Singh and Sons), specifying the particular breach and if the breach is capable of being remedied by the lessee.

Re-entry refers to the termination of the lease in event of a breach of the lease.

From 1945 onwards, communications with the government show that the hotel block was part of the premises. A 1950 communication by the government also noted that Sardar Sobha Singh requested for the release of “one lakh bricks”, and “500 tons of coal” for burning the bricks, “for construction of the hotel block and certain other structures being built by him in Sujan Singh Park”.

In 1945, by the time the war stopped and the agreements were executed, the hotel’s construction was nearly complete — the roof on the top floor, flooring and plastering of walls remained. Construction had slowed partly due to shortages of building materials during the war.

Government flags violations

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In January 3, 1956, the government wrote to Sir Sobha Singh and Sons that the buildings erected on the northern plot were not in accordance with the terms of the ‘Agreement to Lease’ dated October 8, 1945, since a public hotel was constructed with a profit motive.

It also flagged the misuse of 31 garages in the servants’ block as petty shops, use of one garage as a workshop, and misuse of the ground floor of one of the servants’ quarters as a public laundry and motor service station.

The letter stated that the breach shall be condoned and a change of land use be permitted, subject to a fresh agreement and additional charges.

In February 1956, Sir Sobha Singh, as chairman of Sir Sobha Singh and Sons, responded that the hotel block was constructed “strictly according to the terms of the government, with the approval of the consulting architect to the government and the government itself”.

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The reply had further added that no fresh building had been constructed after the ‘Agreement to Lease’ was signed and the mandate under the agreement to construct residential flats “was understood to mean what had actually been constructed on the spot.”

The long court battle

As letters flew back and forth, Sir Sobha Singh and Sons approached a civil court in 1960, seeking execution of the promised perpetual lease and to restrain the government from re-entering the property.

An interim status quo order was granted in 1960. It remained in force until 2009, when the civil court ruled in favour of Sir Sobha Singh and Sons and injuncted the government from re-entry.

During the 1960 trial, Khan Bahadur Mohd. Solaiman, who was additional chief engineer with the Central Public Works Department from 1942-1946, and then chief engineer from 1947, had attested that the government would “make use of the flats and hotel according to their needs.”

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The chief architect to the government from 1939-1945, H A N Medd too had attested that the design and layout of the flats, hotel block, garages etc had his approval. Both attested that there was no violation of terms of the agreement.

District court overturns verdict

On June 11 this year, a district court overturned the 2009 verdict.

It observed that the “agreement nowhere speaks of constructing a hotel block,” and the real estate firm breached the conditions of the agreement by constructing a commercial public hotel where residences had to be built.

The district court further reasoned, “The construction of a public hotel for commercial purpose, logically, would have been the last priority of any government (during) World War II… construction of residential units and blocks… during such times of (war) would certainly have been a top (priority) matter… It would be beyond contemplation of any reasonable mind that the government of the day would have ever intended to run a commercial public hotel alongside residential… units.”

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The verdict paved the way for the government to initiate proceedings under the PP Act. In its notice under the PP Act, it has termed Sir Sobha Sons an unauthorised occupant.

Sir Sobha Sons, meanwhile, is pursuing its appeal against the district court’s order in the Delhi High Court.