Court orders attachment of Gymkhana Club over land compensation dispute

Gurgaon: A city court has directed attachment of Gymkhana Club in Sector 29 due to a delay in the payment of "enhanced compensation" for the acquisition of half an acre of land in Daultabad. The land was acquired 25 years ago and the owner received compensation from HSVP — earlier known as HUDA — that runs Gymkhana Club. An HSVP official said its legal team is analysing the order. "We will approach the court to review the order," the officer said.

HSVP has to pay around Rs 40 lakh as enhanced compensation. Landowner Kapoor Singh died five years ago — 21 years after he sold the land. Counsel for the petitioner Jagjeet Singh said HSVP failed to make the payment even after availing 25 opportunities from the court in the past six years.

Additional sessions judge Jagdeep Singh, in his April 22 order, observed that after considering the arguments, "the warrant of attachment should be issued". The court had increased the compensation amount twice — in 2006 and 2017 — but the enhanced amount was not paid to Singh till date. The land was acquired by HSVP in 1999 and compensation was paid to the landowner. Unhappy with the compensation, Kapoor approached the court, which increased the compensation amount first in 2006 and again it was increased by Punjab and Haryana high court in 2017.

Even after the HC order, no payment was made by HSVP. In 2019, Kapoor filed an execution petition before the city court. During the course of trial, he died in Oct 2020 and his legal heirs were brought on record, continuing their fight against HSVP.

This was not the first time courts directed attachment of HSVP property for non-payment of compensation. In Nov 2024, HC had ordered attachment of the office of the land acquisition officer, estate officer I and estate officer II of HSVP for failing to comply with a prior ruling on the compensation for land acquisition. Earlier, the then chief administrator of HSVP had filed an affidavit before HC in Feb 2022, assuring payment of the pending amount to the landowners by 2022 end. "But HSVP failed to make the payment," Singh (counsel) said on Tuesday.

"People are being forced to take help of touts and pay commissions to get compensation for their acquired land. The govt should make the whole process transparent and should prescribe clear-cut guidelines so that compensation is paid in a timely and transparent manner," Singh said.