New Delhi: The AAP has told the Supreme Court that it has not “encroached” the land of the Delhi High Court at Rouse Avenue here and that the space was allotted to it in 2015.
Moving the Supreme Court against a direction for immediate removal of its office space at Rouse Avenue, the party said it will severely prejudice the party as well as the fairness of the electoral process in view of upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
In an application filed in a pending matter related to judicial infrastructure, the AAP claimed there is no question of it “encroaching” on a space that was duly allotted to it in 2015.
Maintaining that the party remains ready and willing to vacate the subject premises, it requested the top court to direct that such vacation be required only after at least one of the two office spaces that the AAP is entitled to as a National Party are allotted to it in the New Delhi Municipal area.
“In view of these circumstances, immediate vacation will mean that the applicant will be left with none of the two office spaces it is entitled to under the applicable guidelines.
“This will severely prejudice the applicant as well as the fairness of the electoral process, given the impending general elections and the fact that the other five national parties are operating out of their allotted offices in New Delhi,” the application filed by advocate Prateek K Chadha said.
Giving the detail of allotment of the plot of land in question, the party said, “Far from being an instance of ‘encroachment’, the subject
premises were officially allotted to the applicant by the Government of NCT of Delhi (GNCTD) on December 31, 2015 for its State Unit Office.”
“This was strictly in accordance with the applicant’s entitlement as (at that time) a state party under the office memorandum dated October 14, 2015; in fact, a subsequent notice of cancellation of allotment was set aside by the High Court of Delhi vide its order dated August 23, 2017 in Such allotment of office space for official party work is an essential element of public funding of elections in India and is designed to level the electoral playing field,” the application said.
It added that since this allotment in 2015, the applicant (AAP) has risen to become a national political party.
“This change in the applicant’s character and status has further enhanced its need for, as well as its entitlement to, office spaces in the New Delhi Municipal Area, at par with the five other national parties each of which are enjoying, at least, similar allotments in similar locations,” it said.
The party further said the relevant policy guidelines for allotment of land to political parties dated November 9, 2012 issued by the Land & Development Office (L&DO), Government of India, entitles it to two office spaces -- one for its national unit and another for its Delhi state unit.
As of now, the applicant has been allotted office space (the subject premises) only for its Delhi state unit, the application said.
“In view of this, there is no question of the applicant ‘encroaching’ on a space that was duly allotted to it in 2015 and that has been in its possession since then. The subject premises had been in the applicant’s occupation long before it was earmarked for extending the Rouse Avenue Court Complex,” it said.