Breaking: Delhi High Court upholds Associated Journals’ eviction from Herald House

The Delhi High Court today upheld the Single Judge Bench decision to evict Associated Journals Limited (AJL) from the Herald House premises in the capital..The judgment was pronounced by a Division Bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V Kameswar Rao. The Bench had reserved its verdict on February 18 after hearing the counsel appearing for Associated Journals Limited (AJL) and the Centre..While dismissing AJL’s appeal, the Court has recorded,.“If all these factors are taken note of and a decision is taken by the respondents to say that the dominant purpose for which the lease was granted has been violated and there has been misuse of the conditions of the lease, in the absence of mala fides or ulterior motive having been established, the writ court has rightly refused to interfere into the matter. We also see no reason to make any indulgence into a reasonable order passed by the writ court in the facts and circumstances of the present case.“.Further referring to the acquisition of AJL’s shares by Young Indian, the Court has stated,.“….we have no hesitation in holding that the entire transaction of transferring the shares of AJL to Young India was nothing but, as held by the learned writ Court, a clandestine and surreptitious transfer of the lucrative interest in the premises to Young India.”.In December last year, a Single Judge Bench had upheld an October 30, 2018 decision of the Land and Estate Officer, Government of India directing AJL to vacate Herald House by November 15, 2018, after determining a perpetual lease agreement between the two..In its appeal filed through Advocate Priyansha Indra Sharma, AJL had contended that the order of the Single Judge, which dismissed its petition in limine, displayed “inexplicable haste” without even calling for a written reply/affidavit from the Centre..AJL had also argued that its lease deed with the government did not contain any provision with regard to the quantum of circulation of AJL’s newspaper, National Herald, or its editorial policies for determining the continuation of the lease agreement..Click here to read about the entire casePatiala House Court dismisses plea to restrain Subramanian Swamy from tweetingUse of “Congi” for “Congress” not defamatory, Subramanian Swamy defends tweets on National Herald.The Centre, on the other hand, had argued that the lease for the premises was rightly determined after the ownership of AJL was “clandestinely” transferred to Young India. It was thus stated that the motive behind the transfer was to assign the “lucrative interest” in Herald House to Young India, which is controlled by Congress President Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi..It was also claimed by the Centre that the Herald House premises was being used by AJL only for the purpose of collecting rent from the sub-lessees, and not for the “bona fide purpose” of running a press from it..AJL was represented by Senior Advocates Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Vivek Tankha. They were assisted by Advocates Devdatt Kamat, Sunil Fernandes, Rajesh Inamdar, Priyansha Indra Sharma, Arnav Vidyarthi, Madhavi Khanna, Nikhil Bhalla, Prashant, Ashwin G. Raj, Varun Chopra and Nishanth Patil..The Centre was represented by Solicitor General Tushar Mehta with CGSC Rajesh Gogna and Advocate Kanu Agrawal. .Read Judgment