HC Stays Hockey Ground Takeover, Orders Divisional Commissioner to Act on VHA Appeal The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court on Wednesday stayed the proposed takeover of the Amravati Road hockey ground by the Vidarbha Hockey Association (VHA), directing the divisional commissioner to resolve the association’s appeal against the cancellation of its lease within six weeks. The court’s decision came during the hearing of a writ petition filed by VHA after it failed to secure interim protection from the divisional commissionerate. The district administration had issued a notice on August 5 to take possession of the ground on August 13, following a collector’s July 17 order canceling the lease and ordering the resumption of the Nazul land. Advocates Shantanu Khedkar and Anurag Mankar, representing VHA before Justice Nandesh Deshpande, argued that the high court’s intervention was critical to prevent the association from being dispossessed while its appeal remained pending. Mankar emphasized that the divisional commissionerate had not addressed the appeal on its merits and had only declined a stay. “If possession of the ground was taken away while the appeal was pending, the appeal would lose its purpose,” Mankar stated. The dispute centers on approximately 3.80 acres of government-owned Nazul land on Amravati Road, leased to VHA for hockey activities. According to the petition, the lease was renewed in 2007 and was set to expire in September 2037. However, the collector’s July 17 order canceled the lease, citing alleged breaches such as lack of recognition, maintenance issues, and non-payment of annual lease rent of just Rs3.#bombay_high_court #nagpur_bench #vidarbha_hockey_association #divisional_commissioner #nazul_land
