Gurgaon: Huda cancels lease of Gymkhana club land to tent house

Members of the Gymkhana Club in Sector 29 were upset with the ground being used for commercial purposes

A day after the intervention of Gurgaon divisional commissioner D Suresh, the Haryana urban development authority (Huda), on Wednesday, cancelled the tender for leasing land belonging to the Gymkhana club in Sector 29 to a tent house.

A labourer at Gymkhana Club ground where the tent house is building a banquet hall. (Sanjeev Verma/HT PHOTO)

Club members, who were upset over use of the club ground by the management for commercial purposes, welcomed the move.

However, for some members who booked the club for marriage and other events and have already paid the booking amount to Huda (Haryana urban development authority) and Billu tent house, the move has evoked concern. The club ground was leased out to Billu Tent House for nine years at a paltry annual sum of ₹35 lakh.

Sources said that nearly 15 bookings for the next one and a half months have been made for the venue and the cancellation of the tender has put some members in a quandary.

Huda’s executive committee examined the report submitted by Huda Estate officer -2 Vivek Kalia and decided to cancel the lease deed renewed by the club management in May 2017. Huda administrator Yashpal Yadav had appointed an executive committee under Kalia to inquire into the matter.

“It was recommended that the allotment of the land be withdrawn and the agreement neutralised. Based on the report, the executive committee ruled in favour of nullifying the decision (for leasing out the Gymkhana club ground) taken earlier,” said Kalia, adding that those who booked the venue will be allowed to go ahead with their scheduled events.

Read I Gurgaon: Gymkhana Club members to protest Huda’s leasing of land to tent house

The tent house owner has started constructing a banquet hall on the land and now structure itself, has been called into question.

Kalia said an assessment of the structure would be conducted by the Huda’s engineering wing and a resolution will be found. The construction work stopped on Wednesday and labourers were seen waiting at the construction site.

Suresh on Tuesday took note of wrongly executed lease deed of Gymkhana Club by the Huda and advised that the construction of the banquet hall be stopped and the lease agreement be cancelled.

Mohit Dutta, a member of the club, said, “Huda was out to destroy the club by using it for commercial gains. It should be run on the principal of no-profit-no-loss. We are glad the lease agreement has been cancelled.”