Matter referred to religious committee: NDMC to HC in plea against demolition of 150-yr-old mosque

The HC had then, while issuing notice to NDMC and police, directed the parties to hold a “joint inspection” on July 12 at 3 pm, adding that they may also fix any further inspection as deemed necessary.

During the course of the hearing today, NDMC’s counsel submitted that as per the directions of the HC, a joint inspection was carried out on July 12 in the presence of officers from various government departments including the Delhi Traffic Police, Delhi Police, Muslim Special Branch/Tehsildar, Land and Development Office, NDMC officials etc.

He further submitted, “NDMC has found this a fit case to forward this matter to the religious committee. They are the empowered committee to give permission” for such action.

Justice Jalan then asked the NDMC to bring its reply to the plea on record and said that the report of the religious committee be also placed on record “when it is made available”. “Interim order to continue, ” the HC said.

The HC further granted advocate Wajeeh Shafiq, appearing for the Waqf board, time to file his response to NDMC’s reply and listed the matter for hearing on October 6.

The board had previously said it was unable to attend the joint inspection as the communication was received by the officer concerned only after the time of inspection.

On July 7, the counsel for the parties had agreed to a “further inspection” in the presence of the representatives of the board so that the board’s views can also be taken into account.

The response states that during the joint inspection on July 12, the observation and inputs of the officials were considered and after completion of the inspection, a report of joint re-inspection was also prepared.

As per this report, it was jointly observed by all members of the inspection team that “seeing the ground reality of heavy volume of traffic and public, and also keeping in mind safety and security of the public VIPs, and the safety and security of the Delhi Metro, the whole area occupied by the religious structure and other activities may be utilised for redesigning/re-engineering of traffic infrastructure for smooth traffic movement and the above-mentioned structure is required to be removed/relocated shifted somewhere else (outside of Lutyens’ Bungalow Zone area) to some other location in Delhi with the help of authorities concerned. The land is required to be allocated by the land-owning agency”.

The response further states that on July 14, the NDMC wrote to the Secretary, Home department, Delhi government, who is the chairman of the “religious committee”, sending the inspection report. NDMC has said the matter is pending “consideration/decision” before the religious committee.

In its response, NDMC has stated that the mosque/religious structure is situated at the Sunheri Bagh Roundabout which is “right in the middle of the junction of the five roads, and due to the heavy traffic congestion, the high-security zone area/location becomes vulnerable, therefore, as per the observation of the Delhi Traffic Police and Civil Engg. Dept., NDMC said the said religious structure is required to be removed/relocated for redesigning of the roundabout, and solving traffic congestion”.

The response states that on June 26, the Additional Commissioner of Police, Traffic, wrote to the NDMC stating that there was “traffic congestion” in the area and requested the NDMC to examine the “feasibility of realigning/redesigning the roundabout for maintaining safe flow of traffic”.

Thereafter, on June 27, the NDMC wrote to the government officials concerned and the board; subsequently, a joint inspection was fixed and was carried out on June 28 in the presence of the officials concerned of various government departments.

The response states that this letter was duly served on the board and even after serving an advance copy, the “petitioner chose not to remain present at the time of inspection on June 28” and that they made a “false statement” that the communication was received by them “after the time of the inspection”.

The Delhi Waqf Board’s plea claims that recently several Waqf properties have been “demolished overnight in a brazen display of highhandedness” and without following the legal procedure.

“The modus operandi is that a Waqf property, even if it is century old, is marked as obstructing the right of way or the movement of traffic and soon thereafter, in a surreptitious manner, a decision is taken to remove it. The waqf property/religious structure is then cordoned off and is razed either in wee hours or in the dead of night in the presence of heavy police force or paramilitary force,” the petition said.

It said the mosque, which has been “in existence for at least more than 150 years”, was popular and it caters to a large number of worshippers. “The photographs taken by the technical team of the petitioner on 03.07.2023, i.e., a Monday, clearly demonstrate that the congestion is not because of the roundabout, on which the mosque under reference is situated, but because of the uncontrolled parking of vehicles on both carriageways of Motilal Nehru Marg,” the plea claims.