Supreme Court To Hear Plea To Stay Demolition Of Tomb Of Afzal Khan In Satara Tomorrow

Advocate, Mr. Nizam Pasha mentioned the matter before a Bench comprising CJI, Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, Justice Hima Kohli and Justice J.B. Pardiwala. The Counsel orally sought status quo direction, but the CJI indicated that there would be no need for the same as the application would be taken up on the very next day.

The application has been filed by a Haz Mohd Afzal Khan Memorial Society.

Afzal Khan was a General who served the Adil Shahi dynasty of Bijapur Sultanate in India. He was involved in the southern expansion of the Bijapur Sultanate by subjugating the Nayaka chiefs who had taken control of the former Vijayanagara territory and was defeated and killed by Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj on 20.11.1659

A Public Interest Litigation was filed before the Bombay High Court. The Court, inter alia, held that the tomb was in a forest area and directed its demolition. Thereafter a contempt petition was filed apprising the High Court that in spite of its order, the unauthorized constructions in forest area, particularly in Pratapgarh was not removed by the authorities. The High Court directed the Government to file an affidavit with details of demolition activities carried out with certain specifications. The interim order came to be challenged before the Apex Court. While issuing notice, on 27.03.2017, the Supreme Court had requested the High Court to defer the contempt proceedings. On 26.05.2022, there were rumours that there were orders to demolish the said tomb. On 27.05.2022 a fact check article published on India Today clarified that no court had ordered the demolition of Afzal Khan's tomb.

Now, on 10.11.2022 (today) Indian Express has run an article titled ""Illegal structures built around Afzal Khan's tomb in Maha demolished". A local online news channel, namely, Saam TV1 has been running live coverage of the demolition of unauthorized structures around Afzal Khan's Tomb in Satara, Maharashtra. Apprehensive that the tomb would be demolished today, the present application has been filed. Screenshots from the live coverage showing men climbing the roof of the tomb and trying to demolish it has also been attached to the application.

The application implores the Apex Court to issue appropriate directions to protect the tomb of Afzal Khan that has existed onsite since before November, 1659.

The application was filed through AoR, Mr. Lzafeer Ahmad.

As per reports of some local media, the authorities are continuing with the demolition of the tomb.