Delhi Gymkhana Club has been asked to vacate its premises. The Central Government, on May 22, 2026, had directed the highly exclusive club to hand over possession and vacate its 27.3-acre land by June 5. This has sparked a legal, ethical, and social media battle between public and private rights.
What is the Delhi Gymkhana?
The Delhi Gymkhana Club is an exclusive member-only private recreational space, located in the heart of India’s capital, in an area informally called “Lutyen’s Delhi.”
The club has seen the end of British colonial rule, Partition and the opening of India’s economy to the world. Throughout its history, the Gymkhana has been slammed for being elitist, exclusionary, and exploitative.
Its patrons include the capital’s high-heeled, such as politicians, business tycoons, and celebrities.
A map showing the 23-acres of the Delhi Gymkhana Club in New Delhi.
Delhi Gymkhana: A historical timeline.
- 1913: The club was founded on July 3, when Delhi replaced Kolkata as the country’s capital. It was called the ‘Imperial Delhi Gymkhana Club’ located in the Coronation Grounds area.
- 1928: The Gymkhana was relocated to its current site of Safdarjung Road within the elusive Lutyens’ after getting 27.3-acres of land under a perpetual lease.
- 1947: The refuge of the British and some elite Indians (business tycoons, princes, etc) dropped the word ‘Imperial’ from its title after India became independent. It has been called the “Delhi Gymkhana” ever since.
- 2021: India’s National Company Law Appellate Tribunal, or NCLAT, directed the Central Government to replace the club’s elected management and appointed a 15-member committee to take over control.
- 2022: The new committee is formed, and the club finally comes under governmental scrutiny.
- 2026: The Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs issues a notice terminating the club’s perpetual lease deed (from 1928) and sets a deadline for vacating on June 5, 2026. The reasons include national security, and defence.
Club full of allegations: High membership fee with irregular waiting
The Gymkhana has long drawn the ire of citizens.
The one-time membership fee for the club at the time of publication is approximately ₹5.5 lakh for government employees and ₹22 lakh for non-government employees, with a waiting period exceeding three decades. It also charges a one-time ₹ 7.5 lakh fee for being on the waitlist. The club’s website does not explicitly state the fee structure.
Built in the style of the Connaught Place circle and Teen Murti Bhavan, the club features a 1930s swimming pool named after the wife of a former Viceroy of India, called the “Lady Willingdon Swimming Bath.”
But all is not shiny. In 2014, the club was accused by the Delhi government of tax fraud worth ₹2.92 crore. Delhi’s Pollution Control Committee had also ordered its closure for using borewells illegally.
The National Green Tribunal stepped in and imposed a fine of ₹5 lakh.
In 2020, the club courted controversy when the Ministry of Corporate Affairs noted several inconsistencies in the irregular way of membership allotment. The waiting period at the time was reportedly 37 years.
Political reactions: Public good vs political timing
The Central government has defended the move to vacate the Gymkhana Club, while critics have flagged the timing of the controversy and alleged politicking.
Union Minister of Housing and Urban Affairs Manohar Lal has said that the “the land we are taking back today will be put to use as per the requirements, and this work will carry on. There is no other source of land, so we will have to use this land for development needs. The Centre can take back leased land wherever required.”
Rashid Alvi, a senior Congress leader, has linked the move to evict as a way to dismiss the Opposition.
Mr Alvi, in an interview, said, “It is such an old club and many important people are members. The fact that Rahul Gandhi is a member of the Delhi Gymkhana Club is enough to destroy it. What can be a greater fault of the Gymkhana Club committee than that it made Rahul Gandhi a member and did not make people considered close to the Prime Minister as members. This is enough to demolish it and take it over.”
Meanwhile, other Congress politicians such as Shashi Tharoor and Imran Masood have slammed the ‘elitism’ of the establishment.
Mr Tharoor, while speaking about his own experience of not being allowed into Mumbai’s Breach Candy Club, wrote on X on May 27, 2026, that “There is absolutely no acceptable justification for a racist provision to survive on government land. To say the club’s constitution requires it is ridiculous. What about our country’s constitution?”
Mr Masood has called the entire saga the “pretensions and tantrums of the elite class.”
Legal battle
While the deadline of the May 22 order of eviction is June 5, the legal battle is ongoing. The Solicitor General of India has maintained that the ‘eviction’ is a formal notice of “re-entry and termination of the perpetual lease deed” and that authorities would not simply seize the land. They intend to follow the rules mentioned in the Public Premises (Eviction and Unauthorised Occupants) Act.
Meanwhile, members of the club who have approached the Delhi High Court allege that there was no prior notice before the order and that the claim that the land is needed for “strengthening and securing defence infrastructure’ has not been properly proven.
The Court has not granted an interim stay or immediate relief in the matter, and thus the anxiety over the future. It has also officially recorded the Solicitor General’s assurance that no possession will be done without following the law. The next hearing of the case is in July 2026.
Until then, the saga of whether the hallowed Delhi Gymkhana survives or falls, continues.
Published – June 05, 2026 09:41 am IST
