New Delhi

The Delhi High Court on Thursday issued notice to the Centre and the Delhi government on a plea filed by the All India Congress Committee (AICC) seeking directions to execute a conveyance/sale deed in its favour for bungalow No 7, Jantar Mantar Road, New Delhi.

Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav, however, expressed reservations regarding the maintainability of the writ petition and observed that the court would consider the Congress party's plea for interim protection only after it satisfies the court on the issue of maintainability.

The AICC, in its writ petition, has claimed that the property was allotted to the Indian National Congress in 1956 and that the party paid the full sale consideration to the Government of India in 1959.

According to the petition, the Ministry of Rehabilitation had approved the allotment of a portion of the premises at 7, Jantar Mantar Road, through a letter dated January 16, 1956, after which the Office of the Custodian of Evacuee Property asked the Congress party to take possession of the property.

The plea states that the AICC paid Rs 6,10,700 towards sale consideration, along with additional premium and annual ground rent through challans dated May 21, 1959.

The Congress party has further relied upon internal file notings allegedly obtained under the RTI Act to contend that officials of the Delhi government's Land and Building Department had recommended execution of the conveyance deed in its favour.

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The petition also refers to the Supreme Court's 2014 judgment in Janata Dal Party vs Indian National Congress & Ors., claiming that the issue regarding entitlement to properties of the pre-1969 Congress stood conclusively settled in favour of the present Congress party.

The plea alleges that despite repeated representations since 2017, the authorities have neither executed the conveyance deed nor communicated any final decision to the party.