HC moved againt ‘misuse’ of NSK

Kuldip Bhatia

Ludhiana, October 17

Charged with misuse of the building, constructed on land allotted on reserve/concessional rate, for commercial use, the Nehru Sidhant Kendra Trust has been dragged to the High Court in a ‘Public Interest Litigation’ (PIL) filed by the Traders and Property Owners Association of Feroze Gandhi Market. A double Judge bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court has issued notices to the State of Punjab through the Principal Secretary, Local Government, Punjab, the Ludhiana Improvement Trust (LIT) and Nehru Sidhant Kendra (NSK).

Admitting the CWP-PIL (12 of 2018) the Double Bench of HC, comprising Chief Justice Krishan Murari and Judge Arun Palli, on Tuesday issued notices to the three respondents for January 23, 2019.

The petitioner, Traders and Property Owners Association, a registered body, has made a plea with the HC for cancellation of allotment of 4927.33 square yards land on a prime location (on main Pakhowal Road and abutting the high-end commercial hub of Feroze Gandhi Market) for violation of terms and conditions of allotment of land.

Maintaining that the said land was allotted to the NSK, earlier a registered society and later converted into a Trust, for the sole purpose of utilising the land and building constructed on it to propagate the ideals and philosophy of first Prime Minister of India Jawahar Lal Nahru by setting up auditorium, library, reading room and an educational institution, the petitioner said none of these activities was being carried out on the NSK premises, and a major part of the land had been disposed of (rented out) purely for commercial purpose.

“Even the compound of the NSK building is being used for holding commercial exhibitions, sale of garments and other items, and money collected from commercial use of the building and rented portion (shops) is pocketed by the management,” the petition said.

The court was informed that at the time of allotment of land, the LIT had inserted a clause in the allotment letter in accordance with the stated aims and objects of the NSK Charitable Trust.

The petitioners made a fervent plea to the court to order cancellation of the allotment of land and resume the property/premises as the said NSK Trust was not carrying out any charitable activity or propagation of ideals and principles of Jawahar Lal Nehru. An accusing finger has also been pointed towards officials of LIT for their failure to take action as per rules for violation of the terms and conditions of allotment of land and violation of building bylaws by the NSK Trust.