The Land and Development Office (L&DO) on Saturday took physical possession of the historic 15.20-acre Jaipur Polo Ground in the national capital’s Race Course area. The central government’s enforcement action came after the Indian Polo Association (IPA), which manages the prestigious facility, failed to secure interim relief from the courts against an eviction notice.
Officials from the L&DO, functioning under the Union Housing and Urban Affairs Ministry, pasted a formal notice on the front wall of the venue, declaring it government property and warning that any unauthorised occupation or encroachment would face strict legal and penal action.
The eviction follows a May 20 administrative order that cited a ‘larger public purpose’ for reclaiming the premium land parcel, though specific details about its intended future use were not disclosed.
The IPA has strongly condemned the takeover, labelling it wrongful, arbitrary, and contrary to the law, while asserting it will pursue all available legal remedies to safeguard its interests.
Legal avenues for the association dried up rapidly when the Delhi High Court directed a district court to hear the matter, and subsequently, Additional Sessions Judge Dhirender Rana declined to grant an interim stay, citing judicial discipline and listing the matter for a subsequent hearing on June 17.
At the heart of the dispute lies a sharp disagreement over the status of the land’s lease. Gifted by Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II to the Delhi Polo Club around 1930, the management of the iconic sporting venue was taken over by the IPA in 1983. The central government contends that the official lease expired back in March 1993, rendering the association’s decades-long occupation completely unauthorised.
Conversely, the IPA maintains that a 1992 official communication guaranteed yearly extensions until an alternative site was provided, adding that the government’s online portal had recently accepted ground rent paid in April 2025 for a period extending until March 2030.
This takeover is part of a wider administrative crackdown by the Centre on premium, colonial-era land parcels across Lutyens’ Delhi. Similar eviction and lease-termination proceedings are currently playing out in the courts involving other landmark institutions in the immediate vicinity, including the iconic 27.3-acre Delhi Gymkhana Club and the sprawling 84-acre Delhi Race Club premises.
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With inputs from PTI