Delhi court to hear Sir Sobha Singh Trust plea against BMS over 15 years of unpaid rent

A petition filed by the Sir Sobha Singh Public Charitable Trust alleging years of unpaid rent and unauthorised occupation by the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) and others is set to come up for hearing before the Tis Hazari Court on Friday.

The dispute concerns four rooms spread across two floors of the Sir Sobha Singh Building near the New Delhi Railway Station. The property was once the headquarters of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh, the forerunner of the BJP, and the BMS currently uses the four premises as its Delhi headquarters.

The trust's petition, filed in 2021, states that the respondents have been in continuous rent default for 15 years and continue to occupy the premises without authorisation. The four matters relating to the four portions are being heard in court.

Cases have been filed against Deshraj Gupta in connection with three portions and Jagdish Prasad Mathur for one. Both men are deceased. Deshraj was the son of Hansraj Gupta, a former mayor of Delhi. Hansraj's three other sons — Shiv Raj (also deceased), Rajendra (a former mayor and Delhi minister) and Mahendra — are named as respondents, along with the BMS.

Hansraj served as the Delhi Prant Sangh Chalak of the RSS for several years and was mayor of Delhi Nagar Nigam from 1967 to 1972 as a Jan Sangh candidate. Mathur was an RSS pracharak who worked with the Jan Sangh and later the BJP for decades.

Court records indicate that with none of the other respondents appearing in court, the BMS alone is contesting the legal battle. On January 28 this year, the BMS offered to pay the arrears, according to its advocate Adarsh Tiwari, who said the case was solid and that an outstanding rent amount would be paid. The trust's advocate, Anand Singh, declined to comment. A source said the tenants had been occupying the building unauthorisedly and had not paid rent for several years.

The BMS was founded in 1955 by Dattopant Thengdi. When the Jan Sangh began operating from the building, it was a struggling outfit and found its feet after 1967, when it became part of coalition governments in a few states. A nearby building is now owned by the BJP and is still in its use.

The trust claims it has received no rent since January 2006, with arrears exceeding Rs 1.27 lakh as of February 28, 2021. According to the petition, the tenancy was created around 1951 in the name of Hansraj, also an industrialist, for use as a personal office linked to his work with the BMS and the Jan Sangh. Records show the rent for one of the four portions was Rs 849.20 per month in 2013.

The trust says rent and house tax were paid until 2005, with the last recorded payment of Rs 1,281 received by cheque dated January 24, 2006, for one portion. On April 23, 2013, trustee Preminder Singh sent a notice seeking Rs 54,393 in arrears and invoking Section 6A of the Delhi Rent Control Act, 1958, which permits a 10% rent increase every three years. By that calculation, the monthly rent for a portion was Rs 772 in June 2013.

On August 14, 2020, the trust sent another notice to Gupta's four sons and the BMS, giving 15 days to pay dues of Rs 2.48 lakh with 15% interest, and to restore and vacate the premises. The trust has cited unauthorised subletting and structural damage as a second ground for eviction. Its petition states that a site inspection on July 14, 2020, showed the Gupta brothers no longer possessed the building, which was occupied solely by the BMS, and that the open balcony and verandah in front of the tenanted area had been enclosed and an unauthorised shed erected.

The Sir Sobha Singh Public Charitable Trust was created in March 1961 by Sardar Bahadur Sir Sobha Singh with an initial endowment of Rs 5,000. Sir Sobha Singh was among the principal contractors for Lutyens' New Delhi and was behind the construction of landmarks including the South Block, the National Museum and parts of Connaught Place and India Gate. The trust's original trustees included S Ujjal Singh, later Governor of Punjab and Tamil Nadu, S Bhagwan Singh, writer Khushwant Singh, S Daljit Singh and R B Nathu Ram.