New Delhi:  On Friday, August 30, 2024, the Delhi High Court overturned a 37-year-old eviction notice issued by the Central Government to the Indian Express newspaper. This notice had instructed the newspaper to vacate its office building on Bahadur Shah Zafar Road in Delhi. The court ruled that the notice, issued by the Congress government at the time, was an attempt to stifle the freedom of the press and undermine the newspaper’s financial resources.

Justice Pratibha M Singh, who presided over the case, stated that the eviction notice was never officially served to the Indian Express. She noted that the actions taken by the government were designed to suppress the newspaper's reporting, which had criticized government excesses during the Emergency period imposed by then-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

The court described the issuance of the eviction notices and demands for rent payments as "malicious" and aimed solely at silencing the Indian Express. It was revealed that the newspaper only learned of the termination of its lease through a news article in the Times of India dated November 15, 1987. This, according to the court, reflected a deliberate attempt by the government to target the newspaper.

As a result of the prolonged litigation, which spanned nearly five decades, the Delhi High Court has ordered a penalty of Rs 5 lakh to be paid to the Indian Express. The court acknowledged that the land where the Express building stands was originally allocated to the newspaper’s founder, Ramnath Goenka, by Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in the 1950s.

The controversy dates back to 1980, when the Congress government issued an eviction notice that the newspaper claimed was in retaliation for its reporting. The matter had been taken to the Supreme Court, which in 1986 had invalidated the notice as a violation of fundamental rights. Despite this, the Congress government, followed by Rajiv Gandhi's administration, continued to issue notices. The situation was further complicated when the Times of India reported in 1984 that the government had seized control of the Express building.

In court proceedings, the government initially claimed that the Indian Express owed Rs 17,684 crore, which was later reduced to Rs 765 crore. The Delhi High Court found this amount to be "unbelievable, unreasonable, and excessive," and concluded that the only charges the newspaper should face are conversion fees and additional land rent totaling approximately Rs 64 lakh.

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