The office of the United News of India in Delhi was sealed on Friday night following a High Court order cancelling the allotment of land to the news agency.

UNI alleged that no notice was given before the action and that the office was “forcibly vacated”.

The premises were sealed by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs’ Land and Development Office in the presence of the Delhi Police and with the Central Reserve Police Force, reported The Hindu.

“Despite requests from employees to be given some time and to wait for the arrival of company management, and demands to show a notice, they forcibly dragged and pushed some employees, including female staff, away from their seats and out of the newsroom,” alleged the news agency. “During this, they were also subjected to verbal abuse.”

Earlier in the day, the Delhi High Court cancelled the allotment of land to UNI, stating that the news agency had failed to construct a building on the plot for more than four decades and effectively “squatted on valuable public land”.

The court upheld the legality of the March 29, 2023, order of the Land and Development Office. The order had stated that under the original land allotment terms of 1979, UNI was required to complete the construction of a composite office complex within two years of taking possession, reported The Hindu.

However, no construction has been undertaken in this regard, it added.

It further stated that the land was originally intended for joint use by UNI, the Press Club of India, and the Press Association. However, UNI had failed to fulfil its obligations, the newspaper quoted the order as stating.

On Friday, the news agency alleged that government officials, along with nearly 300 personnel from the Delhi Police and paramilitary forces, as well as some lawyers, entered the office premises and “began pressuring employees to immediately vacate the newsroom”.

“They said that if the employees did not leave peacefully, they would have to use force,” it added.

UNI said it was “incomprehensible why employees were evicted from the premises in this manner without any prior notice” and in the absence of the news agency’s senior management.

“The sudden evacuation of this premises has abruptly halted the transmission of news to more than 500 subscribers of United News of India’s English, Hindi, and Urdu services,” stated the news agency. “This has also cast a shadow over the existence of this historic news organisation and the future of hundreds of employees and their families.”

The Statesman, the owner of UNI, described the action as “unprecedented atrocity” and an “attack on freedom of media in India”.