HC to hear Goan Sports plea against evictionRosy Sequeira, TNN | Jun 27, 2013,
10.25 AM ISTA
MUMBAI: Bombay High Court will hear on today a petition by The Goan Sports
Association challenging termination of its lease from a 1,40,000 square feet
plot near Cross Maidan.
A bench headed by Justice S J Vazifdar will hear the Association's petition
challenging the December 21, 2012 government resolution terminating the lease
dead of the plot and directing the deputy director of the Sports and Youth
Service, Mumbai division, to take further action for recovery of dues and
taking possession of the ground.
The Association's petition said the GR was issued six months after the
competent authority under the Bombay Government Premises
(Eviction) Act rejected the eviction case. The GR contains exactly the
same charges which were levelled in the eviction proceedings, it added.
The petition alleged that the deputy directed N B Mote is biased and prejudiced
against '' it and initiated the eviction process.
According to the petition, the Association (then club) was established in
1929 to promote sports in the city and was the apex body of several sports
associations. In the parent State of Goa of the petitioner football is a
popular sport. Hence the petitioner is also promoting football sport
on the said ground for the last more than 45 years,'' it stated, adding
that thousands of players, schools and colleges in Mumbai have
benefitted from using the playground. The petition also said the players
trained by the Association are participating in various international and
national sport events.
The petition said the lease was extended in 2004 for 30 years upto
2033. Advocates Anil Anturkar and Sugandh Deshmukh argued that principle
of natural justice were not followed before issuing the GR terminating
the lease. They said no notice was issued before passing the order. At
the previous hearing, the judges directed a status quo to be maintained and the
State to file a reply.
