Delhi Police detain golfer Rashid Khan after DGC denied him permission for entry
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The Delhi Police has detained professional golfer Rashid Khan after the Delhi Golf Club (DGC) denied him the permission to enter. The DGC had denied him permission to enter the grounds for their non-membership despite the fact that the golf course is situated on public land leased by the government.
Asian Games silver medallist Rashid Khan arrived at the Delhi Golf Club (DGC) at 2.30pm on Saturday with his eight other colleagues but was denied entry by the clubâs security staff. The club stopped Rashid, Arun Baisoya, Rohit Sharma, Rajat Baisoya, Sunny Nagar, Nikhil Sharma, Bharat Sharma and Chetan Baisoya from entering the club on the grounds of non-membership. The DGC Secretary Rajiv Hora had even issued a notice on January 24 barring the players from entry.
Rashid had called up the police as the club denied entry, however, as per allegations, the police had instead taken them away in PCR van to the Tughlaq Road police station in Lutyensâ Delhi. All the players were made to wait for hours even before the duty officer started his questioning.
Rashid was detained for the first time whereas the others were detained even on the previous Sunday. The top-ranked player on the PGTI Playersâ Championship had accused the club of discriminating between the members and the caddie-turned-players. He alleged that he was allowed to practice only from 4.45 pm during winters and from 5 pm during summers but a good 18 holes practice session requires at least five hours. The DGC is situated on a public land and the lease was further extended by the government for 28 years in 2012. The two-time Asian title winner further stated his side of the story.
"I have a Supreme Court ruling of 1998 which clearly says that admission should be granted on payment of a 'day fee' to any person desirous of playing golf. I am ready to pay Rs 300 daily day fee for hitting the ball at the range. Secondly, I have a copy of the 2017 order of the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) directing the DGC to reserve ten per cent for professional golfers of all levels to play at the club," Rashid told TOI over phone from police station.Â
"They are only allowing the members to play at the course. During the members' time, we are not allowed. They are just coming for recreation while we are serious golfers. Legal recourse is the only option left. Police is not even registering our FIR against the influential DGC people. We are being mentally harassed at the police station for hours," he added.Â
The DGC president R S Bedi was not available for comments.
