Delhi HC dismisses plea against installation of Rani of Jhansi statue inside Shahi Idgah Park

The petitioners had moved the Delhi High Court after a JCB was brought to dig up one of the parks adjoining the Shahi Idgah on August 29. According to the petitioners, the digging was being done at the behest of DDA and MCD “trying to encroach upon the said park and planning to install a statue of Maharani of Jhansi”.

The court of Justice Dharmesh Sharma, relying on Delhi Waqf Board’s submissions, held that the surrounding area inside the Idgah boundary, which are the parks/open ground, belongs to the DDA and that the committee’s claim that the entire property within the Idgah’s walls is the property of Shahi Idgah “cannot be sustained in law”.

Noting that the open area of the park has been maintained by Horticultural Division-II of the DDA, which is responsible for ensuring that the site is used by public visitors for recreational purposes, the court went on to record, “The bottom line is that, since the parks/open ground adjoining the Shahi Idgah and located within the Idgah walls are the property of respondent No.1/DDA, it is solely the DDA’s responsibility to allocate portions of the said land for public use as it deems fit….It would not (be) out of place to observe that the real bone of contention seems to be the installation of the statute of the Maharani of Jhansi at the inner corner section of the property in question…”.

“Although apprehension has been expressed that the installation of the statue at the site might create a law-and-order situation, inasmuch as a decision has already been taken by the Standing Committee of the MCD to relocate the statute at the aforesaid site, this court cannot go into the issue of administrative wisdom of the MCD in the implementation of such a resolution…,” it further said.

“Even assuming for the sake of convenience that the petitioner/committee has locus standi to prefer the instant writ petition, this court does not see as to how their right to offer prayers or to perform any religious rights is being endangered in any manner…That being the case, the petitioner has no legal or fundamental right to oppose the maintenance and upkeep of the parks/open ground surrounding the Shahi Idgah, by…DDA and thereby oppose the installation of the statue by…MCD at its behest,” the court concluded.