Delhi HC lets Central Secretariat Club collect belongings after eviction

The Delhi High Court allowed two Central Secretariat Club office-bearers to enter the premises and collect belongings. The order keeps the club's challenge to its derecognition and eviction alive while safeguarding records and assets.Image used for representational purposes onlyNewdelhi,Oct 11, 2026 14:48 ISTThe Delhi High Court has allowed the evicted management of the Central Secretariat Club to collect its belongings and other items from the club premises in the President's Estate area. Justice Amit Mahajan directed central government authorities to help two office-bearers of the club complete the process within two weeks.The order came on a petition filed by the club, formerly known as Talkatora Club, against the withdrawal of its recognition and a later eviction order issued by the Estate Officer directing it to vacate the premises immediately. During the pendency of the case, the authorities took control of the property.During the hearing on October 7, counsel for the petitioner sought the court's permission to enter the club and retrieve certain belongings and documents. Allowing the request, the court said, "The respondents are directed to permit two officers of the petitioner to visit the subject premises and collect all their belongings and other items, the list of which shall be provided to the respondents after visiting the property."The court also said, "After the list is provided, the respondents shall take steps for facilitating the collection of those goods / items by the petitioner." Earlier, on August 13, the high court had sought the Centre's stand on the club's petition but had declined to order status quo in the matter. In its petition, the club said the Department of Personnel and Training had on July 14 arbitrarily, illegally and unconstitutionally withdrawn the recognition granted to it. The petitioner said that instead of acting on its complaints about irregularities during the term of the ad-hoc committee managing its affairs, the authorities had first withdrawn recognition in February without issuing any show-cause notice. It said that after the court intervened, it was given a hearing and a fresh de-recognition order was passed on July 14.The petition said, "The impugned derecognition order dated 14.07.2026 and the impugned Eviction Order dated 17.07.2026 are ex facie arbitrary, malicious, unconstitutional, and constitute a brazen, colourable exercise of administrative power. The respondents are attempting to weaponize their own administrative failures and the misdeeds of their ad hoc committee to forcefully dispossess and extinguish a historic institution, in flagrant violation of Article 14 of the Constitution of India and the fundamental principles of natural justice." It also alleged that the eviction order arbitrarily treated the 107-year-old institution, which had been given permanent occupancy, as an "unauthorised occupant" solely because of what it called the illegal cancellation of allotment. The case centres on the club's challenge to the withdrawal of recognition and the eviction order, while the latest direction allows its office-bearers to recover belongings from the premises under the supervision and facilitation of the authorities.- Ends