Delhi's Iconic Bikaner House Could Be Closed Over Arbitral Dispute

A Delhi court ordered the attachment of Delhi's iconic Bikaner House after the Rajasthan administration failed to pay arbitral award of Rs 50.31 lakh to a company.

While passing the order, District Judge Vidya Prakash noted that the 2020 arbitral award in favour of Enviro Infra Engineers Private Limited has attained finality after an appeal preferred by the Nagar Palika was dismissed earlier this year.

"Keeping in view the fact that the Judgement Debtor (JD) had failed to comply with the direction for furnishing affidavit of their assets despite grant of repeated opportunities, the court, while agreeing with the submissions made on behalf of Decree Holder (DH), finds it a fit case for issuance of warrants of attachment against immovable property of JD namely Bikaner House, New Delhi," the judge said, according to news agency PTI.

The court restrained the Nagar Palika of Rajasthan's Nokha, which owns the Bikaner House, from transferring or charging the property by sale, gift or otherwise. The court also directed the representative of the Nokha Nagar Palika to appear before the court on November 29, the next date of hearing.

The Rajasthan government, meanwhile, said it will take immediate action in the matter.

Bikaner House was designed as the residence of the Rajput rulers of the princely state of Bikaner. In 1911, during the grand ceremonies of the Delhi Durbar, King George V announced that the capital of British India was to be moved from Calcutta to Delhi. The intention was to create a grand imperial presence in historic Delhi. While in use as a royal residence, the ground floor hosted the reception suites, private rooms and guest rooms, while the zenana, or women's quarters, was on the first floor. Its present form still reflects the regal grandeur and taste of its original patrons.

Around the time of Indian independence in 1947, Bikaner House was the venue for many important meetings between Indian royal families, who deliberated their futures. This was where they considered the accession policy that would allow them to formally join independent India. Categorised as a Grade II heritage building by the Archeological Survey of India, Bikaner House has been meticulously restored to its original form. It opened to the public on November 18, 2015.