Roshanara Club likely to be sealed

The century-old Roshanara Club, which was the birthplace of Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), is likely to be sealed on Friday.

The lease of the club, situated in north Delhi’s Shakti Nagar, expired in 2012 and 2017 for the two different parcels of the club’s land.

The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has not renewed the lease.

“We have received information from the DCP (Deputy Commissioner of Police) office that they have been asked by DDA for police force to seal the club,” said a senior member of the club to Patriot.

The matter had been in court since the expiry of lease. The High Court had this year asked DDA to not take any coercive measure and stayed the order.

However, it seems that the DDA is going ahead with sealing it.

“We approached the lower court as per High Court’s suggestion. But the lower court dismissed our application on September 27 i.e. Wednesday,” said another senior member.

“There are many people employed in the club. They have families. They are bound to suffer.”

The club was formed in the Raj era and is significant for being the birthplace of the Indian cricket board.

“There are leases for two land parcels. The first one expired in 2012. The second one in 2017. The case is sub-judice. We approached the L-G but he couldn’t help us immediately,” added the member.

The DDA is yet to respond to the query from Patriot.

Roshanara Club ground was one of the venues earmarked for some of Delhi’s age group games in the upcoming season.