Islam Gymkhana's alleged mismanagement of open space reaches HC bench
According to petitioner, the main violations by the Marine Drive-facing Islam Gymkhana are unauthorised construction, violation of the terms of the lease deed
MUMBAI: A writ petition filed by a sports enthusiast in the Bombay high court against Islam Gymkhana, which was recently converted into a PIL, is slated to come up for hearing on July 26. The petition alleges several irregularities and mismanagement of government resources and open space.
According to petitioner Nabi G Shah Sayed, the main violations by the Marine Drive-facing Islam Gymkhana are unauthorised construction, violation of the terms of the lease deed and restraining public access to the ground by holding wedding functions on its premises. Sayed has listed several instances of the gymkhana management’s “high-handedness”.
Declaring that the state’s objective in leasing the land to the gymkhana at a subsidised cost stands defeated, the petition reads, “The land is not being used for promotion of sports but for various other activities such as marriages, functions and other special occasions. Even the proceeds earned from giving out the land for such activities are not being ploughed into sporting activities or for creation of open green spaces but being misused for creation of further resorts, hotels, recreation spaces, a hookah bar, ice-cream parlour etc.”
The petition also states that the managing committee of the gymkhana runs it in an undemocratic manner and is undermining its secular character by taking decisions “as though the gymkhana is meant only for the benefit of one single community or for the people of one singular religion”.
Highlighting that the state is suffering huge revenue losses, as the land is a premium property capable of fetching much more than the rent paid by the gymkhana, the petition states that such losses are unjustified as the land is not being utilised for the purpose for which it was allotted.
“Several open spaces in the city have been leased out to various clubs and gymkhanas with the public welfare in mind,” said advocate Prerak Choudhary, who is representing Sayed. “Unfortunately, the public is not able to freely access these spaces. The use of such grounds for marriages and functions should be disapproved. The petitioner is hopeful that the concerned authorities will be directed to take strict action and formulate a good policy for dealing with all such gymkhanas and clubs enjoying leases in respect of huge land parcels in the heart of the city.”
When contacted, Yusuf Abrahani, president of Islam Gymkhana and former MLA, claimed that the petition was the work of a lobby of card players. “There was a card room in the gymkhana in 2019,” he said. “After our managing committee was elected, we closed it since gambling is not permitted by law. There was also cricket-betting going on, and the police came to the gymkhana thrice. The 30 people playing cards got aggrieved and went to court three times but all the petitions were rejected. This new petitioner files petitions against everybody; he has been a proxy for these people.”
When questioned about the mismanagement and misutilisation of funds, weddings conducted on the gymkhana grounds and denial of access to the public to use the ground for sporting activities, Abrahani replied, “Whenever there is a wedding in the gymkhana, this lobby takes photographs and writes to the collector. If there is one wedding, they will send four different photographs, saying that four weddings were conducted and the gymkhana should pay four times more.”
The former MLA claimed that all documents were shown to the collector and ₹1 lakh was paid per function as per the lease condition. “For seven years these people have lodged over 100 complaints but not a single complaint was found to be genuine,” he said. “The collector has not passed any order against us.”
Regarding illegal constructions, Abrahani said that Islam Gymkhana had got a letter from C ward, saying there was no single action pending against it. “Previously there were three illegal structures but they were demolished after I became the president,” he said.
When asked about the gymkhana denying access to the public and being allegedly non-secular, Abrahani said, “On weekends, the entire ground is occupied by 500 boys who play cricket. We play day-and-night cricket and take part in all the tournaments. Lots of sports events are held here. We have more than 13 non-Muslim players in the team and have been secular and open. These allegations are motivated, and the petition is a proxy one filed by the card room players.”
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