NAC loses court case, to be vacated from Janpath

NEW DELHI, Nov 9: After three decades in operation and owing to property dispute, Nepal Airlines Corporation´s regional office located at Janpath in New Delhi is soon to be vacated and will be moved to another destination.



The disgraceful situation came after NAC lost a pending case on encroachment of property at the Delhi High Court earlier this week. [break]



Shyam Dhoj Silwal, regional director of NAC, confirmed that the national flag carrier had lost the case and the court decision came on Nov 2. He said the regional office is now contemplating a ´possible move´.



NAC will be forced to move once it receives a certified copy of the court order, which the office may get within two days.



NAC sources told Republica that legal experts have now advised them to seek Supreme Court intervention. “We might move the Supreme Court for redress as per our lawyers´ advice,” an NAC staffer said, seeking anonymity. “But we are now seriously thinking of moving to another location in the Indian capital.”



After coming to controversy for property encroachment, NAC´s regional office in New Delhi had obtained a stay order from Delhi High Court in March this year.



NAC faced much problem when one of the owners of the leased place tried to forcefully remove furniture and documents from the NAC office in February. NAC has claimed that the person who barged into its office on February 26 is only one of the 10 persons who own the property and thus possesses only 1/10 of the property rights.



On that day, the house owner and his henchmen evicted NAC staffers from the office at Janapath and vandalized NAC property.



NAC has occupied the space in Janpath on lease for over 25 years. The lease agreement was inked between NAC and Srishti Properties on behalf of the landlords for the use of the ground floor and the first floor of the building. This is a prime office location in India´s capital city.



This particular owner (name undisclosed) has accused NAC of paying meager IRs 1,100 per month till date whereas rent amount has actually skyrocketed over the years. However, the office complex has been under constant ownership dispute for many years.



At present, NAC operates its office in the most pathetic condition with only half of the office space made available to it.

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