HC tells city Karnavati Club to file affidavit

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat high court (HC) on Tuesday asked the Karnavati Club management to submit an affidavit by March 31.
In this affidavit, the club officials will get a chance to say whether Rs 10 crore will be deposited with the court registry by June 30.
Only after the club management expresses willingness to deposit the money, the court may remit the matter of land regularization to the state government. In an earlier hearing, the state government had said that it would submit before the court on Tuesday whether the land should be sold or not. But during the hearing on Tuesday the government chose to remain silent.
Two petitioners — Dinesh Rawal and Pravin Patel — have separately challenged construction upon government land. They have claimed that the government cannot regularise the encroachment without following due procedure. When the court asked whether they consented to the process of depositing Rs 10 crore, they refused to give their consent immediately.
The club had in 2007 made a representation before the government to regularize the construction of a tennis court, swimming pool, office and a hall by way of selling the plot to it on existing jantri rate. The petitioners have been contending that the jantri rates at SG Highway are much less than the existing market rates.
They have claimed that the market value of the land, on which the hall, tennis court and the swimming pool are constructed, is nearly Rs 76 crore. If the land is regularised as per the 1980 GR, the government will be put to great loss, counsels Rashmin Jani and I H Syed contended. Further hearing has been scheduled for March 31.