Delhi high court says no to high-rise near Rashtrapati Bhavan

The Delhi high court on Friday said the DLF cannot develop private flats near Rashtrapati Bhavan, and that the land could not be converted for high-rise construction since it would be vulnerable from the security point of view.

A division bench of chief justice Dipak Misra and justice Sanjiv Khanna referred the matter again to the Land and Urban Development Office (L& DO) department for further consideration.
Edward Keventer Successors Pvt Ltd (EKSPL), the company controlled by DLF, was in the process of constructing a residential accommodation.

The Centre through their counsel Arjun Harkauli has opposed DLF’s move, saying the plan to construct residential buildings in the vicinity of the Rashtrapati Bhavan and close to Lutyens’ Bungalow Zone in Chanakyapuri is a potential security threat.
The government’s move came after a single-judge bench order, gave the go-ahead to Edward Keventer.

DelEKSPL, a subsidiary of real estate giant DLF, holds the lease for a 9.26-hectare (22.9 acre) dairy farm located around a kilometre behind the Estate at Block 42, Keventer Lane, Sardar Patel Marg. The property is under a perpetual lease deed since August 1942.