Delhi High Court Rejects Plea To Offer Prayers On Shab-E-Barat At Site Of Demolished 600-Yr-Old Mosque In Mehrauli

The Delhi High Court on Friday dismissed a plea seeking permission to offer prayers and visit the graves on the occasion of Shab-e-Barat at the site of recently demolished 600-year-old mosque, Masjid Akhonji, in city's Mehrauli area.

The mosque, along with Madrasa Bahrul Uloom and various graves, were demolished by the DDA on January 30.

Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav dismissed the application seeking unhindered entry in the graveyard and site of the mosque of the persons wanting to offer night long prayers and visit graves of their elders, beginning Sunday and ending 30 minutes after sunrise on Monday on Shab-e-Barat.

The court dismissed the application moved by Managing Committee of Delhi Waqf Board in a petition pending since 2022.

“At this stage, this court, under the facts of the present case, is not inclined to pass any directions. The application is accordingly dismissed,” the court said.

Justice Kaurav observed that as of now, the site in question is in the possession of DDA and the court is already seized of the main petition which will be heard on March 07.

“The prayer in question relates to the nature of a mandatory injunction. The respondents in their status report have unequivocally states that the structure has already been demolished and that the order of status quo passed by this court is being maintained on the site,” the court said.

Advocates Shams Khwaja appearing for the Managing Committee of Delhi Waqf Board contended that the urgency of filing the application is Shab-e-Barat, which is the occasion of forgiveness where Muslims offer prayers throughout the night in the mosque and visit graveyards.

He submitted that the mosque was 700 years old which was illegally demolished by DDA officials.

However, the counsel appearing for the Delhi Waqf Board opposed the application and said that the mosque was not 700 years old and is not a waqf property.

After hearing the parties, the court dismissed the application.

Earlier this month, the court had directed DDA to maintain status quo on the site. It however clarified that the status quo order was passed only with respect to the khasra number where the mosque was situated and will not act as a bar on the DDA to carry out its action on adjoining areas.

It is the case of the Managing Committee of Delhi Waqf Board that the mosque and madrasa were demolished in a brazen manner. It is claimed that the Imam of the mosque, Zakir Hussain, and his family were left without shelter and their hutment was also demolished.

Title: THE MANAGING COMMITTEE OF DELHI WAQF BOARD v. THE GOVERNMENT OF NCT (GNCT), DELHI & ORS.

Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Del) 202