Modi Government approaches Delhi High Court to speed up the eviction of Sonia controlled Nehru Memorial Fund from Teen Murti complex

ASG Sharma said a museum is proposed to be built at the site in question which is a “project of national importance”, and the petitioner cannot be permitted to occupy the land which belonged to the Centre

Team PGurus

January 21, 2023

ASG Sharma said a museum is proposed to be built at the site in question which is a “project of national importance”, and the petitioner cannot be permitted to occupy the land which belonged to the Centre

Speed up plea for eviction of JNMF from Teen Murti Complex, says Centre to Delhi HC

The Central government requested the Delhi High Court on Friday for an urgent hearing of the matter related to the eviction notice given to the office of Jawaharlal Nehru Memorial Fund (JNMF), chaired by Sonia Gandhi to vacate the Teen Murti Estate complex. Additional Solicitor General Chetan Sharma vehemently opposed the request for adjournment made by the counsel for the JNMF who assailed the eviction notice issued in 2018 and said it was a clear abuse of authority.

For the past 75 years, the plush Teen Murthi complex in the heart of Delhi is in the control of the Nehru family and was totally under the control of Sonia Gandhi from 1991 to 2014. When BJP led Narendra Modi government came into power in mid-2014, Sonia Gandhi was facing heat to leave her control over the plush property in Delhi and her Congress-friendly Left ecosystem was enjoying the plush location and getting huge annual scholarships through this Memorial Fund, floated in the name of Jawaharlal Nehru, first Prime Minister of India. The Congress high command (Read Nehru family) was throwing crumbs to Left academia and Left-leaning and pro-Congress journalists through annual scholarships in the name of some thesis papers.

This Teen Murti complex was the meeting point of Sonia Gandhi with Left and Pro-Congress academia, journalists, and activists for the past 30 years. After the eviction notice by the Modi government in 2018, Sonia Gandhi was deploying a battery of lawyers to prevent the eviction from her favourite plush Teen Murti Complex.

ASG Sharma told the High Court a museum is proposed to be built at the site in question which is a “project of national importance”, and the petitioner cannot be permitted to occupy the land which belonged to the Centre. The complex now houses ‘Pradhanmantri Sangrahalaya’, a museum built as a tribute to all Prime Ministers since Independence. Considering the submissions, Justice Mini Pushkarna listed the case for hearing on January 24.

The court was informed that the matter was earlier heard at length by another bench and has to be now considered afresh. The ASG contended the petition was not maintainable before the high court and since the proceedings against the petitioner were initiated under the Public Premises Act, all grievances should be raised before the authority concerned under the law. “A show cause was issued in 2018. This is Public Premises Act. How can you come to the high court? This is an important national project,” Sharma said.

The JNMF had approached the High Court in 2018 seeking to set aside the estate officer’s October 15, 2018 eviction notice. The Fund has been located at Teen Murti Bhavan, once the residence of India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru since 1967. The JNMF was set up in 1964. Its offices are not part of the main building but the Fund occupies a set of barracks on its eastern side with a separate entry from Teen Murti Marg. The JNMF has denied the claim that it was in illegal possession of the property.

Its petition, filed through advocates Sunil Fernandes and Priyansha Indra Sharma, has said the estate officer’s notice was Malafide and been issued with ulterior political motives. The plea has said the JNMF is a charitable trust and the Directorate of Estates has no jurisdiction to initiate any proceedings in relation to the property of Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) which is a registered society and the JNMF is in legal occupation of the premises.

The JNMF chaired by Sonia Gandhi has contended that the eviction notice issued under the provisions of the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorized Occupants) Act, 1971 was arbitrary and without jurisdiction and has been issued without application of mind. The petition has said the proceedings initiated by the estate officer are part of a larger design to efface and destroy the legacy and contributions of Nehru and create a new historical narrative.

“The legacy of Nehru is a historical fact which is now sought to be effaced by the central government led by the BJP which is totally opposed to the secular and inclusive principles which Nehru stood for,” the plea has alleged.

In response, an affidavit filed by the deputy director of estates at the Directorate of Estates has claimed the JNMF has failed to produce any authority which allows it to use the demised premises and the Central government is the sole owner of the premises, and the Teen Murti Estate in its entirety. The affidavit has said in the absence of any material placed by the Fund to show that it is either JNMF which is the owner or someone else other than the Central government is the owner of the land, it should not be permitted to argue that the government does not own the property. The High Court had on November 1, 2018, passed an order staying the proceedings before the Directorate of Estates.

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