Delhi HC closes proceedings in plea ‘anticipating action’ on 150-year-old mosque at Sunehri Bagh Road

On December 18, a single-judge bench of Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav in its order noted that the primary grievance of the board at the time of filing of the petition was concerning the conduction of a joint inspection in the absence of the board. The high court said that pursuant to the July 7 interim order, a joint inspection was carried out in the presence of the parties on July 12 at 3 pm and a report was also prepared therein.

“Therefore, it is rightly submitted by the learned counsel appearing on behalf of the parties that in terms of the order passed by this court, certain deliberations had taken place between the parties and even the inspection had been carried out in the presence of the respective parties,” the order notes.

Senior counsel Sanjoy Ghose, appearing for the petitioner, submitted at this stage that his client “apprehends” that the respondents “may take action dehors (outside the scope) the legal position” and sought that the board be protected from such an “arbitrary or illegal action”.

On the other hand, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Chetan Sharma for the NDMC vehemently opposed these submissions and on instructions, said, “There is no foundation laid by the petitioner to apprehend that the respondents would act in contravention of the legal position.” According to the ASG, the order notes that if respondents intend to take any action, then they are “bound to follow the extant regulations and also the applicable order with respect to the property in question”.

“Since the parties have largely agreed on the aforesaid issues, therefore, at this stage, this court is not required to adjudicate the prayer any more. The parties are directed to be bound by the undertaking(s) recorded hereinabove,” the high court said while disposing of the petition.

On August 14, the NDMC had informed the high court that the issue with regard to the mosque had been referred to the religious committee. In its response, the NDMC had said that during the joint inspection on July 12, the observation and inputs of the officials from the Delhi Traffic Police, Delhi Police, Muslim Special Branch/Tehsildar and Land and Development Office 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 stated that on July 14, the NDMC wrote to the secretary of the Delhi government’s home department, who is the chairman of the religious committee, sending the inspection report.