Very soon the popular eating joints and other shops at the historical Gole Market will become a thing of the past.
Shopkeepers have lost a legal battle in the Delhi High Court, which dismissed the appeal of shopkeepers against a previous single bench order of the court, which had refused to give relief to the shopkeepers from eviction after New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) told the court that it has no intention to develop Gole Market as a commercial property and intends to develop it as a museum.
The shopkeepers had approached the high court contending that NDMC had not taken any decision despite the observations made by the division bench on whether they have taken a decision to covert the Heritage Gole Market Building into a museum or not.
The shopkeepers contended that till the time NDMC took a call on the issue, the shopkeepers should not be evicted from the market.
In a recent order, a bench of Justices Manmohan Singh and RV Easwar, which was hearing an appeal against a single judge judgment dated 21 May, 2013, dismissed the appeal of the shopkeepers.
The court also took note of the unconditional undertakings to the court by the shopkeepers that they would peacefully hand over their shops and offices on or before 30 June, 2013. The undertakings tendered by the appellants were accepted by the court under a separate order dated 22 May, 2013.
‘In view of the affidavit filed by the NDMC, it is clear that as far as the undertakings given by the appellants to vacate the suit property are concerned, this court is of the view that the same is binding upon the appellants, as the learned single judge has accepted their undertakings which unconditionally were tendered by the appellants themselves. Thus, no advantage whatsoever can be derived by the appellants not to vacate the suit property in case the respondent is not able to take the decision in respect of development of area as a museum,’ the court observed.