It's exit for Appu Ghar with SC ruling

NEW DELHI: It is good bye for Appu Ghar, India's first amusement park, in the heart of the national capital whose roller coaster rides and eats have given fun-filled moments to children and adults alike over the years.

The Supreme Court Friday said the land of the park, located in the court's vicinity, was to be handed over the apex court and to Delhi Metro.

A bench of Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice Aftab Alam ordered the union urban development ministry to hand over the possession of nearly 15 acres of the Appu Ghar land to the apex court authorities and Delhi Metro Railway Corporation.
 
The bench ordered that the land be handed over after evicting its present occupier, albeit illegal, private firm Indian Amusement Limited (IAL), which runs the amusement park that has become a landmark in the capital.
 
It was the ministry that sounded the first death knell for the park by allocating the land to the court for its expansion, and also for a separate administrative block and a record room for itself.
 
A part of the land, 6,202 sq. metres, is to go to DMRC to build its railway tracks and stations.
 
The court also ordered the estate officer of the urban development ministry to dispose off a bunch of petitions by various arbitration parties, including IAL, DMRC and India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO), by the next date of hearing, Feb 19.
 
Appu Ghar has had a chequered history since its inception in 1984.
 
The ITPO, after its creation in 1976 for organising national and international trade fairs and exhibitions, was allocated a large chunk of land by the union government on lease near the Supreme Court on Mathura Road. The land was developed by ITPO into what is known today as Pragati Maidan.
 
ITPO in turn sub-leased 14.74 acres of land to IAL for three years in 1984 to run and operate Appu Ghar. While IAL developed Appu Ghar, the ITPO kept on extending the lease period to IAL till November 1999, when it last expired.
 
When ITPO asked IAL to vacate the land in 1999, the private firm sought legal arbitration with ITPO to continue with Appu Ghar.
 
Meanwhile, with the Supreme Court urgently needing land for extension and the DMRC for construction, the government allocated the land to both the parties.

The legal battle between ITPO, IAL and different government agencies, including the urban development ministry, finally reached the apex court. The Supreme Court had earlier refused IAL's plea to stay its eviction and dismantling of Appu Ghar.
 
The court has now finally asked the government to hand over possession of the land to itself and DMRC as decided upon by the urban development ministry.