This is the first time that the event would be conducted at the Air Force Station which is located opposite to the Prime Minister’s residence on Lok Kalyan Marg

Amid a row over the use of land at the Air Force Station in New Delhi, the high-profile guard of honour for both the outgoing and incoming chiefs of the Indian Air Force (IAF) will be conducted at the station itself.

This is the first time that the event would be conducted at the Air Force Station which is located opposite to the Prime Minister’s residence on Lok Kalyan Marg, which is called the ‘Lutyens zone’.

Since Monday, the Ministry of Housing Urban Affairs has been conducting a ‘survey’ on the land under the Air Force Sports Complex, co-located with the Air Force Station. The complex and its facilities, like swimming pool, gym and restaurants are shut for members, who are retired as well as serving officers.

The guard of honour for the outgoing Air Chief Marshal AP Singh is scheduled for October 31 while the guard of honour for his successor Air Marshal Ashutosh Dixit is slated for November 1.

The development comes directly in the shadow of an ongoing land reclamation drive by the Centre.

Sources confirmed the conduct of guard of honour at the Air Force Station, saying these high-level military transitions and their associated parades were earlier hosted in the comparatively cramped parking lot of the Air Headquarters near South Block.

However, the venue was shifted to the station to accommodate a larger, more expansive parade ground.

The closure of the sports complex forced the cancellation of Air Chief Marshal AP Singh’s scheduled “golfing-out” event, a traditional fixture for departing chiefs acting as patrons-in-chief of the facility.

The Land and Development Office (L&DO), under the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, has already completed a survey of the complex as part of a wider effort to reclaim legacy Defence land.

The move has left many serving personnel and veterans deeply unsettled.

The takeover of the Race Course sports facility aligns with a broader pattern of state-led repossession of high-profile properties in the national capital. Earlier this year, the Centre issued similar eviction notices to the Delhi Gymkhana Club under public-purpose clauses to secure Defence infrastructure, while also taking physical possession of the 15-acre Jaipur Polo Ground following legal battles.