The experiences bestowed by Kanchi-Mahaswami — Part 40: Express building — Challenges return
https://www.thuglak.com/thuglak/main.php?x=curissue/ninaithu_paarkiraen_04_08_2021.php
Author : Sri S.Gurumurthy
Translator : C.Rangarajan
Indira came to power on 14th Jan 1980 and Sanjay became the de-facto ruler. In the next month, they started posing problems to the Indian express. Then, we were constructing an additional office after taking the necessary approvals. By the end of Feb 1980, rumors were circulating about the planned action by the government on account of purported illegalities. The rumor spread all over India. In March, Goenka called me, “Guru, as we were anticipating, they have started their gameplan. Come to Delhi”.
New building constructed by Express in the 1980s
In the 1950s, on the recommendation of Goenka, Nehru’s government created a press enclave exclusively for the media, and plots were given on lease. All major National dailies Express, Times of India, Hindustan Times, National Herald were having their offices. Goenka got a prime plot. But there was a challenge. A concrete drain was located underground of the plot. Hence, a building was constructed in the leftover area.
It was sufficient for the group in 1958. In the 1960s, the space requirement for the group was increasing. Hence, Goenka attempted to shift the drain and construct a new building in that area. At that time, Delhi was directly administered by the center. Due to the ongoing tussle with Indira, he was not able to accomplish it. But, he was able to shift the drain successfully during the Janata party’s rule. Then, they got the plan approval from the center & DDA. 90% of the work was completed before the reemergence of Indira’s govt.
I was staying in the guest house that was part of the old building. I never realized the history behind this setup. Only after seeing the demolition notice given by Indira then I came to know about the history of the old edifice.
Demolish the building & grab the land
Both Sanjay & Jagmohan were intimate friends. Jagmohan was heading the DDA and on Sanjay’s orders, he had demolished many buildings. There were lots of complaints against him. On 17th Feb 1980, Jagmohan was appointed as the Lt. Governor of Delhi by Sanjay. In the evening, Jagmohan had asked for the files related to the Express new building. It was a Sunday. He got the files from the center but not from the Delhi corporation since it was managed by the Janata Party. On 29th Feb, the locks of the corporation office were broken and files were sent to him. On 1st March, he gave an interview to the press and said, “ We are appointing a committee to enquire about the excesses committed in the construction of the new building by the Express group. The committee will submit their report in three days and the building may get demolished”. The committee was filled with his people.
Both AIR & DD gave importance to the news. The government started waging a war on the Express group. On the same day, the Delhi corporation issued a show-cause notice to the group and gave three days for a response from us. On 10th March, it had sent a notice saying that if the leased land gets misused then we will take it back. All these acts were supported by Jagmohan. Around that time, I reached Delhi.
Need stay order from the court
When I reached the guest house in Delhi, the usual Darbar was happening. Many opposition leaders like Nanaji Deshmukh, Chandrasekhar were visiting. Goenka introduced me to two junior lawyers — Arun Jaitely & Ryan Karanjawala and said that they would brief me about the case. He switched over to Tamil, “ Guru, for them this is just another case and for us, this case is very important. They are saying that the case does not have the juice to stand on its own. I don’t care about that. You need to find a way and stop the demolition. We need to get a stay order from the court. If we do that and give a kickback to the government then Indira would stay away from us for one year.
I learned the method of converting a problem into an opportunity from Goenka. Two more members, Arun Shourie & Lawyer Pravin Parekh were added to the think-tank team. Members who had prepared the Delhi master plan were ready to help us. Goenka appointed Fali Nariman to conduct the case. Other than Shourie, the remaining members were new to me. I met Arun Jaitely for the first time and he was a rookie with a year of experience in the bar. He briefed me about the case.
The accusation that cannot be refuted
Here is the synopsis of the case:
- 1:3 FSI ratio is allowed in the Delhi enclave. It means a building of 3 times the size of the plot can be constructed. Against the rules, it was revised by the Janata government in the ratio of 1:3.6.
- The group violated both the old & new FSI approvals and constructed an office space of 23,000 sq. ft. Both the claims were related to the building
- It has been agreed that the building on the leased land can be used for media-related activities only and not for any other. The express group has violated it. Therefore the government retains the right to take back the land
The master planners also confirmed that the FSI violation is a major one
Going Crazy
In the next three days, I read all the documents and related laws. I asked for legal proof for the FSI 300 and one of the master planners explained to me that. Press enclave is located in Already Built-up Commercial Areas (ABCA). FSI 300 applies to the areas that come under ABCA. I went through the 1962 Master plan of Delhi and I was not able to located Press enclave under the ABCA section. Even the Bahadurshah road was not listed (http://docshare02.docshare.tips/files/27352/273521363.pdf)
I could not believe that and re-read the same again. Press enclave was not listed and went against the details given by the Master planners. I got the doubt about the veracity of the Master plan itself. Whether I am reading the correct one or not? I referred to another one and found the same details in that too. I was going mad and could not sleep at all. It was 4.30 am and I rushed to Goenka’s room. He was awake. I explained to him about the situation and he too became excited. Then he mentioned that he is going to call the master planners and we should explain it to them. Let us watch the Tamasha too.
Sweating profusely
At 10 am, 5–6 Master plan experts had come to our office. They introduced one of them as the original master plan creator. Then, we narrated our understanding. The name of the Press enclave was missing in the original as well as the amended list which comes under ABCA. I was asking them about the possibility.
They too were perplexed and continued to refer to their master plan copies too. They discussed among themselves for some time. Goenka was enjoying the whole drama with a dry smile. The original master planner was sweating profusely and stammered, “ Agreed, Press enclave’s name is not there in the original list. But, it is considered/deemed to be part of ABCA”.
They asked for some time to study and never came back. Ideally, Press enclave’s name should have been there but Goenka was fortunate. Finally, we found a way to solve our problem.
Let the Supreme Court approved the demolition
Then we met the senior advocate, Fali Nariman along with others. It was my first meeting with him and our deep friendship continued to blossom from there. I explain the whole thing, again. He got the confidence to file a case. Then, we were discussing the appropriate court to reach out to. Fali was suggesting about the high court and can use the Supreme court for appeal. But Goenka was adamant that we should go to the Supreme court and wanted them to decide on the demolition. Fali Nariman agreed to the idea. Arun Shourie, Arun Jaitley & myself were tasked to prepare the writ petition. It was vetted by Fali Nariman. When he stood up to argue the case in the court, Justice Bhagavathi intervened, “We read the writ petition. Hereby, we are providing interim stay on both the notices issued by the corporation”. Goenka got his due and he was not troubled by Indira for some time.
Again, my role was discussed in the halls of the Supreme court. My colleague discussed the same in his recent interview with the News X channel (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6tOuwyaK3c — from 11.19). He gave the credit to me for preparing the original points on which the case was constructed.
In that case, the honor of the government was at stake. On both sides, legal luminaries were conducting the case. The case highlights the following — the thin fine line between Press freedom & their business, how the government conducts their business, and abuse of their power & authority. Initially, from the government side, the then Solicitor general, Sri Parasaran was conducting. But after seeing the merits of the case, he had to withdraw himself in the middle. It was a big shock to the government.
