No eviction of Kalu Shaheed Dargah till January 2024: Gujarat HC

Following this, Sabirhusen Malek, mujawar (caretaker) of the Dargah, moved a petition before the HC seeking that the notice issued by the railway authorities be quashed and set aside, and pending the final decision on the petition, the operation and execution of the notice be stayed.

The court of Justice Vaibhavi issued notice to the rail authorities on Friday, keeping them returnable for January 16, 2024, and directed that until the next date of hearing, the authorities will maintain the properties as it is, granting relief to the petitioner.

Stating that the notice is in “gross violation of the provisions of the Waqf Act, 1995” as the dargah is a Waqf property since 2002, the petitioner submitted that no action should be initiated without approval or consultation with the Waqf Board. He further pointed out that they were not given an opportunity of hearing and such a notice is also in gross violation of provisions of Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991.

Adding that the dargah has been in existence since around the 14-15th century, the petitioner has also pointed out that it has been acknowledged in its own records dating as far as back to 1912 and that the railway department has been collecting licence fees since then. Hence, the structure cannot be labelled as unauthorised religious records, contrary to the Railways’ own records, the submission stated.

The petition went on to submit that, in 2018, on account of laying and extension of pit lines, “the structure of dargah and safety of devotees were threatened,” pursuant to which a public interest litigation was filed before the HC challenging the same. During the proceedings, the Railway authority had filed an affidavit before the HC stating that the extension of pit lines will not affect the dargah and has been planned while keeping a safe distance from the shrine.

Meanwhile, Jitendra Jain, public relations officer for the Ahmedabad division of Western Railways, told The Indian Express on November 6, “We can issue notices to Mandir and Masjid which are on our (Railway) premises. We are making a world-class station of Rs 3,000 crore, everyone should support this. We are protecting the Jhulta Minars (shaking minarets). Neither the Mandir nor the Masjid is heritage and if you say it’s 50,000 years old, why will we accept it? Show us the papers. If they were heritage, we would protect them.”