India, May 24 -- In the geography of Delhi power, few addresses have carried the weight of 2, Safdarjung Road. For over a century, the Delhi Gymkhana Club's 27.3 acres - a perpetual lease in the heart of Lutyens' Delhi, flanked by the country's most sensitive government establishments - served as the capital's most enduring informal institution: the place where those who ran India came, after hours, to be among their own.

On Friday, the government ordered it vacated by June 5.

"For many people, elderly people who spent all their lives here, it has become a home - it's like a temple," said AS Dulat, who lead the Research and Analysis Wing and subsequently served as Prime Minister's advisor on Kashmir.

A former president of the club, he ...