A Delhi court has denied interim relief to the Polo Association of India in the Jaipur Polo dispute

A Delhi court on Friday (Jun 12, 2026) refused to grant interim protection to the Indian Polo Association (IPA) against a government order asking it to vacate the Jaipur Polo Ground located on the race track.

This paved the way for the Lands and Development Authority (L&DO) under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs to take physical control of the 15.20-acre plot.

The next sitting, Justice Dhirendra Rana of the Patiala House Court, while hearing an application filed by the IPA under the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorized Occupants) Act, 1971, denied the relief. The association sought a stay on the resort’s eviction notice issued on May 20, which ordered it to vacate the multi-acre site.

Next session Justice Dhirender Rana was hearing an application filed by the IPA under Section 9(3) of the Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorized Occupants) Act, 1971 seeking a stay on the execution and enforcement of the eviction order by the Central Government.

In its order, the court said, “A similar kind of application was made before the Learned Principal District and Sessions Judge, PHC and Delhi High Court and no relief was granted to the applicant. Therefore, in view of judicial discipline and propriety, I am not inclined to stay the impugned order even till the next date.”

The court, however, directed the Union government to file replies to the appeal and the stay application and posted the matter on June 17 before the vacation judge.

The dispute concerns the Jaipur Polo Ground in Lutyens’ Delhi. The Center has informed the courts that the land occupied by the polo ground and surrounding businesses, including the Delhi Gymkhana Club, is proposed to be taken over for public purposes.

Her standing counsel Ashish Dixit appeared for the Union government and sought time to file replies to the appeal as well as the stay application.

However, senior advocate Akshay Makhija, along with another lawyer representing the IPA, opposed the Centre’s request for adjournment of filing the reply and urged the court to restrain the authorities from executing the eviction order till the next date of hearing, arguing that otherwise the appeal itself would be ineffective.

The court noted that the appeal against the May 20 eviction order was filed on June 3 and notice had already been issued to the respondent without granting an interim stay at that stage.

“As a copy of the application was not supplied in advance, the arguments on the application cannot be heard as the respondent has the right to file a reply to the application and only then the residence application can be processed,” the court said.

The court noted that the IPA subsequently approached the Delhi High Court through a writ petition where a prayer for temporary stay of the eviction order was also raised but no interim relief was granted.

“The application was disposed of subject to the decision of the District and Sessions Judge of the Patiala House Courts on the stay application filed along with the appeal,” the order said.

The court also referred to the Delhi High Court’s observation that there was no imminent execution of the eviction till June 12.

Dismissing the application for interim protection pending further hearing, the court said: “With regard to judicial order and propriety, I am not inclined to stay the execution of the impugned order even to the next date.” The IPA called the eviction “wrongful, arbitrary and against the law” and said it would use all available legal means to protect its rights and interests.

“As the matter is sub judice and ongoing, the Association does not propose to comment further on the matter at this stage,” IPA counsel Major (retired) Nirvikar Singh said.

Earlier on June 8, the Delhi High Court had expressed concern over the fate of heritage structures in these properties, lamenting the construction of high-rise buildings in the capital amid rising pollution.

“Delhi will suffocate. Whatever we have in the NDMC area will be gone. We will all suffocate and die,” Justice Krishna said orally. The court also noted that the government did not feel the need to take over the 200-year-old land and asked whether the construction of high-rise buildings was in the public interest.

“What are you going to do about Delhi? People from Delhi go to the chhota-mota mountain and stay there. It’s a small lung we have and you want to take it too. Make sure people stop going to Delhi,” he added.

“We have only high-rise buildings everywhere. All the two-storey buildings are gone. Every colony has been demolished. If you want Delhi to live like this, then help us God,” the court observed orally during the hearing.

Published – 13 Jun 2026 17:10 IST