UNI office sealed in Delhi; staffers allege manhandling by the police

Delhi Police, along with paramilitary forces, allegedly dragged out at least 50 journalists from the Rafi Marg office of United News of India (UNI) on Friday, March 20, 2026, following a court order over a land dispute.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Sachin Sharma said: Hindu Delhi Police, along with Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel, visited the premises of the UNI office to ensure security of the Land and Development Office after the Supreme Court ordered to vacate the premises in favor of the latter. “As per the HC order, we were there to ensure the safety of L&DO officials and asked all UNI employees to vacate the premises,” Mr. Sharma said.

The case pertained to an order by the Land and Development Department of the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Development, asking the news agency to vacate the premises.

The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the cancellation of land allotment to UNI on Rafi Marg and observed that the agency had not constructed a building on the land for over four decades, effectively “occupying valuable public land”.

The Supreme Court had not found any illegality in the cancellation letter dated March 29, 2023, issued by L&DO canceling UNI’s land allotment at Rafi Marg. UNI filed a lawsuit against the cancellation letter in 2023. The court noted that under the original allocation conditions, which date back to 1979, UNI was required to complete construction of the composite office complex within two years of taking possession. However, no construction activities were carried out and even preliminary steps towards the project were not initiated.

The judgment notes that the land was initially planned to be used jointly by UNI, the Press Club of India and the Press Association, but the primary allottee failed to fulfill its obligations.

‘No warning was given’

Sabir Haque, one of UNI employees, said: Hindu He said police arrived at around 6pm on Friday and asked all staff to evacuate the building without giving any notice or any deadline. “They were not giving us time to talk to our management. They were not allowing reporters who were out on duty to enter the office to collect their belongings,” Mr. Haque said. Meanwhile, he said, the police dragged all the employees, even the women, from their seats and pushed them out of the office.

The news organization wrote on social media platform

However, the DCP said that no journalists were mistreated. “We made video recordings of the entire process,” he said.

UNI also claimed in a statement that police had threatened employees, stating that “they would have to use force if they did not leave peacefully”.

Currently Delhi Police has sealed the office building. A notice posted on its door states that the building was taken over by the Government of India on March 20, as per the Delhi High Court’s order dated March 20. “Any entry, occupation or use of the facility by any person without permission from L&DO is strictly prohibited and will invite action in accordance with the law,” the statement said.

(Contributed by Rocky Singh)