'Vacate Delhi party office by June 15, apply for alternate land': Supreme Court to Aam Aadmi Party
Arvind Kejriwal's Aam Aadmi Party will have to vacate their headquarters which stand on a plot of land meant for the High Court. The saving grace -- it has time till June 15 to do so.
FollowThe Supreme Court on Monday gave Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) time to vacate its party office from the Rouse Avenue area till June 15, 2024, noting that the land was allotted to the Delhi High Court for expanding judicial infrastructure. The top court also stated that the AAP is entitled to a new allocation for a party office and that the Centre must follow the rules in order to continue.
It was communicated to a bench consisting of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud, Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, that the party needs two to three months to leave the property. The judge also instructed AAP to apply for a land allocation for its offices from the Land and Development Office (LDO).
“We would request the L&DO to process the application and communicate its decision within a period of four weeks,” the bench said, adding AAP has no lawful right to continue on the plot.
Senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for AAP, argued that it is one of the six national parties in the country. The court declared, "We grant time until June 15, 2024, to vacate the premises in view of the impending general elections so that land allotted to expand the district judiciary's footprint can be used on an expeditious basis."
The Delhi government and the Registrar General of the Delhi High Court were previously instructed by the Supreme Court to convene a conference in order to remove the AAP's encroachment on the property at Rouse Avenue that was assigned to the HC.
In February, the court had observed that AAP was encroaching on the land, which was allotted to the Delhi High Court for an expansion project -- the building of additional court rooms for the Rouse Avenue court. The top court took note of the matter while dealing with a case related to judicial infrastructure across the country.
