The Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs last month issued a demand notice of around Rs 940 crore to Sir Sobha Singh and Sons — the real estate company that built, and still runs, the upscale Sujan Singh Park in Central Delhi in the 1940s — for breaching lease conditions, The Indian Express has learnt.

The notice seeking payment for alleged breaches found during inspections over the years came just days after the Supreme Court, on April 22, gave its judgment on the fundamental dispute between the government and the company. The court set aside a Delhi High Court verdict asking the Centre to vacate residential premises at Sujan Singh Park, near Khan Market, holding that the property was a “government grant” under the Government Grants Act, 1895, which did not attract provisions of the Delhi Rent Control Act, 1958.

The Land and Development Office is learnt to have issued the demand notice on April 30, revising the amount from its earlier demand of over Rs 700 crore that was issued in March and April 2022. The two notices of 2022 had been challenged by the company and the matter was adjourned by the district court in view of the pending petition in the Supreme Court. After the Supreme Court’s judgment last month, the Land and Development Office is learnt to have issued the revised demand notice.

The property includes apartments as well as the Ambassador Hotel nearby.

When reached for comment, Shaunak Kashyap, the advocate for Sir Sobha Singh and Sons, said: “The case is sub-judice, and we are pursuing our legal remedies, so it would not be appropriate to comment on the merits of the case. We have full faith in the legal process and, in our view, the Supreme Court judgment and the law as it stands, only further substantiate and support our stand. We have full faith in the courts, and in due process of law, and we are confident that our legal standing will be vindicated in due course.”

The 7.58-acre property, divided into Sujan Singh Park North and South, was given on perpetual lease to the company on April 26, 1945, the Supreme Court judgment notes. As per the lease, the company was to construct 100 residential flats that were to be used by the government during World War II, after which 50% of the flats were to be retained by the government for a fair rent and the other 50% were to go to the company.

Over the years, the number of units retained by the government dropped to 14 flats, 39 servant quarters and 25 garages. These flats were allotted to senior government officials.

In 1991, the company moved the Additional Rent Controller, alleging that the government had defaulted on the Rs 2,400 monthly rent, and sought eviction. The government argued that it was not a “landlord-tenant relationship”, as per the judgment. The matter went through the Rent Control Tribunal, Delhi High Court, and finally the Supreme Court.

Both the tribunal and the High Court ruled in favour of the company in 2007 and 2008 respectively. The government appealed against this in the Supreme Court, which, on April 22, set aside the High Court’s judgment, and quashed the eviction. Since then, MoHUA sources said, the Directorate of Estates, under the ministry, has taken possession of the flats, quarters and garages.

After the then British government decided to move the capital from then Calcutta to Delhi in 1911, Sobha Singh, along with his father Sujan Singh, were the builders who were contracted to construct some of the key projects designed by Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker, including Rashtrapati Bhavan and India Gate. His descendants, including grandson Preminder Singh, continue to run Sir Sobha Singh and Sons today.