TC Bureau Chandigarh: Supreme Court on Monday asked the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to vacate its headquarters office in the Rouse Avenue area of Delhi as the land was allotted for the expansion of Delhi High Court’s infrastructure. The apex court said that AAP has no legal right to continue its office on the land and gave the party till June 15 to vacate the property.
A bench led by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra asked AAP to approach the Land And Development Office to get allotment of land for its offices. “We would request the L&DO to process the application and communicate its decision within four weeks,” news agency PTI quoted the bench as saying.
The apex court had previously instructed the Delhi government and the Registrar General of the Delhi High Court to convene a meeting aimed at addressing the issue of encroachment by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on the land designated for the High Court at Rouse Avenue.
‘We get nothing as a national party’, asks AAP
Appearing for the AAP, senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi argued that the party is one of the six recognized national parties in the country and must get its offices in a better place. “They are telling us as a national party we get nothing. I’m given Badarpur, while everyone else is in better places,” Singhvi said.
Given that the Lok Sabha elections 2024 are just months away, the CJI-led bench asked the party to vacate the Rouse Avenue office by June 15. “In view of the impending general elections, we grant time until June 15, 2024, to vacate the premises so that land allotted to expand the district judiciary’s footprint can be utilized on an expeditious basis,” the Supreme Court bench said.