Delhi Gymkhana Club eviction row explained: ₹47.58 crore in unpaid dues, Supreme Court battle and 14,000 members in limbo | Today’s news
The Delhi High Court is set to hear a petition by the Delhi Gymkhana Club challenging the Centre’s eviction notice, escalating the legal battle for control of the elite 113-year-old institution. The petition argues that the government’s directive to vacate the 27.3-acre site by June 5 is arbitrary and violates due process. Members claimed the move was an attempt to gain control of the club despite ongoing legal and administrative proceedings.
Read also | The Center directs the Delhi Gymkhana Club to hand over the premises by June 5; here’s why
The Delhi Gymkhana Club, one of India’s oldest and best-known private institutions, is fighting a government order to vacate its 27.3-acre premises in the heart of Lutyens’ Delhi by June 5.
What is Delhi Gymkhana Club? Why does it matter?
Founded in 1913 during the British Raj, the Delhi Gymkhana Club is among the oldest sporting and social institutions in the Indian capital. Located at 2, Safdarjung Road, in the heavily secured Lutyens’ enclave of Delhi, which also houses the Prime Minister’s residence and several key government facilities, the club occupies 27.3 acres of prime land held on perpetual lease from the government.
Its membership list historically reads like a who’s who of Indian public life: senior civil servants, retired and serving military officers, judges, politicians and diplomats.
Delhi Gymkhana Club currently has approximately 14,000 members and users and employs over 500 staff. The Delhi Gymkhana Club also reportedly boasts long membership waiting lists of up to 10 years.
Prominent members of the Delhi Gymkhana Club
Founded in 1913 under the chairmanship of Spencer Harcourt Butler, a senior British colonial administrator, the Delhi Gymkhana Club has counted among its members some of the most powerful figures in Indian public life in its 113-year history. Former presidents, prime ministers, cabinet secretaries and chiefs of the armed forces have all been members.
Its approximately 5,000 permanent members are drawn mainly from the senior ranks of the Indian Administrative Service, Indian Foreign Service, Indian Police Service and the Armed Forces, with life and corporate membership extended to distinguished individuals from the legal, diplomatic and corporate worlds.
Among its more publicized current members is Rahul Gandhi, a Congress leader and Member of Parliament who was granted a much-publicized membership in 2006.
Its prominent figures also reportedly include senior advocate and Congress MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who represented the club members in the current court proceedings before the Delhi High Court.
Retired General PK Sehgal, a senior military veteran with a long association with the club since 1972, was closely involved in its advisory affairs.
Following the intervention of the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) in April 2022, the government appointed a general committee of professionals to manage the club, comprising senior figures across law, government and politics. They included Nalin Satyakam Kohli, an advocate in the Supreme Court of India and national spokesman of the BJP; Kuljeet Singh Chahal, General Secretary of Delhi BJP; Ajay Prakash Sawhney, retired IAS officer; and retired IPS officers Malay Kumar Sinha and Kumar Rajesh Chandra, the latter former CEO of Sashastra Seema Bal.
Delhi Gymkhana Club does not publicly publish a full list of members citing privacy protocols.
Eviction order: What the government said
On 22 May 2026, the Lands and Development Authority (L&DO), which operates under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, issued a notice for the Delhi Gymkhana Club to vacate and hand over its entire 27.3-acre site by 5 June. The notice cited clause 4 of the original lease, which allows the government to resume possession of land needed for “public purposes”.
Read also | NCLT allows government to take over Delhi Gymkhana club. Read here
The government reasoned that the land, due to its location near the Prime Minister’s residence and other high-security zones, was “critically necessary for strengthening and securing defense infrastructure and other vital public security purposes”.
A government notification to the Delhi Gymkhana Club said the land was also needed to fulfill “urgent institutional needs, governance infrastructure and public interest projects associated with the redevelopment of adjoining government land”.
Crucially, the notice stated that upon re-entry, “the entire 27.3-acre site, together with all buildings, standing erections, structures, lawns and appurtenances, shall be wholly vested in the Landlord, i.e. the President of India, through the Lands and Development Authority”.
Case goes to Delhi High Court: What happened on Tuesday
The Delhi Gymkhana Club challenged the eviction order in the Delhi High Court. The suit was mentioned before Justice Avneesh Jhingan by senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi on behalf of club member Vijay Khurana, who sought an urgent hearing. Justice Jhingan agreed to list the matter for hearing today, May 26 (Tuesday).
Read also | Delhi Gymkhana Club has violated the rules for granting permanent membership: Report
Earlier, on May 16, the government-appointed committee to oversee the club had separately approached the Delhi High Court and obtained a stay on the ground lease proceedings on the grounds that “some efforts are being made to resolve the dispute amicably”. The court fixed July 21 as the next date in the matter.
Members of the previously elected management committee are also separately planning to move the Supreme Court to challenge the L&DO takeover notification.
The ₹47.58 Crore Ground Rent Question: The backstory not disclosed by the club
The eviction order did not appear without warning. According to ThePrint reports, L&DO wrote three formal letters to the club’s management over a period of nine months, each demanding payment of rent arrears.
The first letter dated 12 September 2025 raised a demand for revised ground rent with interest totaling ₹32.88 million crowns. In a second letter dated March 27, 2026, the club was asked to provide copies of the leases entered into with the Punjab National Bank, which occupies office space on the club premises, for determining additional sub-lease charges. When no adequate response was received, a third and final letter was issued on 16 May 2026 in which the amount owed was consolidated to ₹47.58 crore and issuing a seven-day ultimatum.
Read also | Members of the Delhi Gymkhana are suing the Delhi High Court against the Centre’s eviction notice
This letter clearly stated: “Failure to comply with these instructions and to pay the outstanding amount ₹47,58,91,317 within the specified 7-day period will cause this office to initiate proceedings for re-entry into the premises in accordance with the terms of the lease agreement.”
She also noted that the charges for sub-leasing the Punjab National Bank’s office space were yet to be tallied as the club had not submitted the required documents.
Critically, a member of the last elected management committee told ThePrint that the government-appointed committee overseeing the club did not inform ordinary members of the L&DO notices or the accumulating fees. The disclosure added a layer of internal liability questions to an already complex dispute.
Who now runs the club and how did it come about?
The current administration of the Delhi Gymkhana Club is not its elected membership committee. In April 2022, the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) granted permission to the government to take over the management of the club following a protracted governance dispute. Since then the Delhi Gymkhana club has been run by a committee appointed by the government.
This committee, in its letter to the L&DO on Monday, said it had “worked tirelessly for over 4 years, effectively managed the affairs of the club and turned the club around from its dire financial condition of losses”. He pointed to financial figures showing a projected profit of Rs ₹9.25 crore for 2023-24, against a loss ₹12.39 crore in 2021-22, as evidence of turnover.
Read also | Members of Delhi’s elite Gymkhana club are gearing up for a challenge to take over the government
The committee also noted that the improvement was achieved without issuing new memberships, which had previously been the club’s primary source of income, and that it had digitized membership records, nearly 43 percent of which were unavailable when he took over in 2022.
However, members of the previous select committee took a completely different view, arguing that the government-appointed body failed to comply with its legal obligations and deliberately created reasons for the government to reclaim the land.
What the club wants: Alternatives, staff and time
Immediately after the eviction order, a government-appointed committee wrote to the L&DO and asked for a meeting with ministry officials. His letter sought to clarify several pressing matters, including the future of the club’s more than 600 permanent and contract staff in the event of a move, the commitments the club has made to upcoming sporting, cultural and other events, and whether the government might consider allocating an alternative site to allow the club to relocate instead of closing.
One committee member told reporters: “We are in regular conversation with the L&DO and officials at the Department of Urban Development. We are trying our best to ensure that the club continues at its current location.”
Read also | The founders of Gymkhana reveal plans for a Soho restaurant serving Tamil food
The committee also argued that relocation would require significant capital expenditure to rebuild infrastructure and facilities over decades, and that any sudden action would “severely disrupt the functioning” of the institution and “affect many stakeholders such as members, staff, athletes, etc.”
Member responses: ‘Illegal’, ‘Selective’ and warning against precedent
Members of the Delhi Gymkhana club reportedly called a meeting on Monday and described the proposed takeover as “illegal”, while also raising what they characterized as concerns about selective enforcement. They argued that “similar clubs should be given similar treatment” and rejected the suggestion that the Delhi Gymkhana Club was an illegitimate user of public land.
Members said the site was actively used for sport, recreation and cultural activities by thousands of people and their families and that the club’s heritage value exceeded the commercial value of its land.
The fate of 14,000 members, more than 600 staff and a 111-year-old institution hangs in the balance in a dispute that is as much about governance and accountability as land.
