DDCA pays licence fee of Rs 24.64 lakh per year for Feroz Shah Kotla ground

NEW DELHI: DDCA pays a nominal licence fee of Rs 24.64 lakh per year for the Feroz Shah Kotla ground, which is just about 1.4 per cent of the presumptive fee of 16.74 crore per year if the value of the land is taken at commercial rates, the Central Information Commission has pointed out.
Refraining from passing an order declaring the Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) a public authority under the RTI Act, the CIC agreed, however, that the cricketing body was receiving concessions on licence fee for the land which is of "material/of considerable value" and without which it would struggle to exist.

The matter relates to a plea by RTI activist Subhash Agrawal demanding action against DDCA for failing to respond to his queries under the transparency law.

He had contended that DDCA receives substantial indirect funding from the government in the form of various subsidies and that brings it under the RTI Act, which makes it liable to answer queries posed to it under that law.

DDCA is opposing calls that it be brought under the RTI Act, saying it does not get any funding from the government, which makes it different from the Indian Olympic Association, another sports body which has been brought under the RTI Act.

The Land and Development Office (LDO) had informed CIC that as per a renewal of licence in 2002 for 33 years, the licence fee was fixed at Rs 24.64 lakh by the Centre, which had shown no favours to DDCA.

CIC noted in its order that in response to its query regarding the difference between the commercial and institutional rates for land in Delhi, the Urban Development Ministry has said that during April 1, 1998, to January 31, 2000, the commercial rate was Rs 57,960 per sq.m while the institutional rate was Rs 2,174.52 sq.m in Zone -I.

The majority of the three-member Bench of the CIC noted that the total value of the land at the disposal of DDCA, spreading to over 14.28 acres, comes to Rs 334.94 crore, on which the lease rental per annum, as per the agreement, should be Rs 16.74 crore.

"As against this, DDCA is paying a nominal licence fee of Rs 24.64 lakh per annum to LDO. It needs to be noted that the above commercial rate of Rs 57,960 was for the period April 1, 1998, to March 31, 2000. It is evident that land prices have gone up since them... Therefore, the annual rent calculated at the current commercial rates should be much higher than Rs 16.74 crore mentioned above," it said.


Intervening in the case, BJP MP Kirti Azad had levelled serious allegations against the working of DDCA and also demanded that the cricketing body be placed under the transparency law.

"DDCA occupies 14.28 acres of prime land in Delhi, for which it pays merely Rs 24.64 lakh in licence fee annually. Since 2002, no lease executed by MoUD with DDCA, for want of compliance with various requirements listed by LDO vide their letter July 10, 2002.

"DDCA, therefore, is clearly in unauthorised possession of this land that is conservatively estimated to be worth Rs 5,000 crore," he had alleged.

He had said that the LDO has been repeatedly requesting DDCA to fulfil certain conditions, yet the sports body has not cared to complete the requisite formalities.

"There are no approvals from statutory bodies like DUAC, ASI, MCD, fire department, etc. Every time there is a match, temporary approvals are sought from MCD on purely political considerations -- endangering the lives of 45,000 spectators," the former cricketer had said in his submissions to CIC.

Azad alleged that while no government property can be sub- leased, DDCA has illegally constructed 10 Corporate Boxes and has sub-leased these for 10 years to corporates such as ONGC, collecting Rs 36 crore in the process without seeking the approval of the land owners, i.e. the Government of India.

"Nearly Rs 158 crore has been spent on building an unauthorised stadium for which no accounts are available. SFIO has confirmed that no tenders have been issued for work carried out/material purchased even for non-routine items.

"There is rampant cheating of entertainment tax by pricing a large number of tickets at a mere Rs 100 while paying spectators have to fork out Rs 10,000-50,000 per seat," Azad had claimed before CIC.

In its defence, DDCA had told CIC that it is not enjoying use of government land at concessional/minimal rates and is paying Rs 24.64 lakh per annum as yearly lease rent to the Centre. It also does not enjoy exemption from Income Tax, DDCA had said.

"The land allotment is also subject to the approval of lay out plan by ADG (Arch.), CPWD, and it is required to use the land only for the purpose for which it has been allotted and not for any other purpose," it had said.

Two members of the Bench -- Sarat Sabharwal and Basant Seth -- said it was clear that the concession given by the LDO to DDCA is material without which the latter would struggle to exist. But the decision on declaring that DDCA be placed under RTI Act was deferred till superior courts decide similar matters in separate cases.

The submissions of Azad, however, were taken note of by Information Commissioner Sridhar Acharyulu, who gave a dissent verdict instructing SFIO to probe allegations against DDCA and also declaring the cricketing body as a public authority under the RTI Act.