Court defers attachment of iconic Bikaner House

A Delhi commercial court on Friday deferred the attachment order of the historic Bikaner House, granting the Rajasthan Municipal Corporation of Nokha a week to deposit ₹50.31 lakh, the amount mandated by a 2020 arbitral award in favour of a private company.

- Arnabjit Sur

The case arose after the corporation failed to pay Enviro Infra Engineers Pvt Ltd for constructing a sewage treatment plant in Nokha, a municipality in Bikaner district of Rajasthan. The heritage building was enlisted as one of the assets owned by the municipal body.

The order followed intense exchanges in the courtroom, with the Rajasthan government contesting the attachment by asserting that Bikaner House is state-owned and not under the municipal body's jurisdiction.

The court, however, expressed displeasure over the state government's delayed response.

"Now you have woken up from your slumber? How do you justify the lack of response? Despite repeated opportunities, you failed to file the assets," district judge (commercial court) Vidya Prakash remarked during the hearing at the Patiala House courts.

The court ruled that the attachment of Bikaner House, located near India Gate, would be deferred only if the municipal authority deposits the award amount in the form of a fixed deposit receipt by the deadline.

It fixed January 7 as the next date of hearing to monitor compliance.