Temple, mosque at ITO face demolition; boundary walls gone

The temple, Prachin Shiv Mandir Jheel ka Piao, and the mosque, Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind, are next to each other. The exercise started at 6 am and several police personnel were deployed to clear the traffic logjam due to the demolition and to provide further assistance.

The HC issued the directions during the hearing of a petition moved by caretakers of Sanatan Dharam Mandir or Prachin Shiv Mandir, challenging a letter by the PWD stating they were encroaching on the land.

Suresh Beri, committee member of the temple, said the bulldozers came early in the morning and demolished the outer portions, mostly the gates, of the temple and the mosque extending onto the road. Speaking to The Indian Express, he said: “The Sanatan Dharam has had the lease of the land as far back as 1939… we got the PWD notice on October 31 last year and were told to clear the encroachment by November 3 or else they stated that they will demolish the boundaries by November 5.”

Observing that “larger public interest will outweigh” concerns of the mandir and masjid, and in order to make the pathway uniform, the HC said: “For the said purpose, if some portion of the Mandir/Masjid is to be broken/ demolished, the same would have to be permitted by the Court”. Justice Singh also clarified that both “mandir and masjid or their occupants will not be treated as an unauthorised occupant”.

The HC remarked the “usual conflict the Court faces in such cases is striking of balance between larger public interest on one hand and interest of devotees on the other”. It relied on a 1998 decision of the Gujarat HC which said if “places of worship are taken away” for expanding a road, “it would not mean in any manner that a religious structure is being disrespected”.