Supreme Court Refuses To Stay Demolition Of Shiv Temple At Yamuna Bank, Says Temple Built With Cement Can't Be Ancient

The matter was placed before the Vacation Bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and Augustine George Masih.

To provide a brief background, recently on May 29, the Delhi High Court had rejected the plea filed by Pracheen Shiv Mandir Avam Akhada Samiti against the DDA's action of demolition. Justice Dharmesh Sharma had observed that the petitioner had miserably failed to demonstrate any legal rights existing with it so as to continue to use and occupy the civic property for running the temple services.

The single-judge bench also added, “It goes without saying that Lord Shiva does not need our protection; rather, we, the people, seek his protection and blessings. There could be no iota of doubt that Lord Shiva would be happier if the Yamuna River bed and the flood plains areas are cleared of all encroachments and unauthorised construction.”

The plea sought a direction against the authorities to ensure that the temple is kept operational and open for the use of devotees.

However, the Court rejected the same and observed that impugned structure was located on the Yamuna flood plains which have been developed by DDA pursuant to directions of the NGT.

Further, the court gave the petitioner society 15 days time to remove the idols and other religious objects in the temple and to place the same in some other temple. It also granted liberty to the DDA to carry out demolition of the unauthorised construction.

Against this order, the petitioner had approached the division bench of the High Court. However, it did not grant any stay against the demolition, thereby making the plea infructuous as 15 days time got over on June 12. Against this, the petitioner filed a Special Leave Petition seeking for an interim relief.

At the commencement of today's proceedings, the Court questioned, “Where is the proof of Pracheen Temple to begin with?” It added that according to the authorities the temple is in middle of the river bed.

The Court further asked the petitioner to show the documents supporting the temple's ancient status. “Ancient temples were built with rock and not with cement and painted...these are all recent temples," the Court said. 

However, the petitioner's counsel submitted that the temple is not within the Yamuna floodplains. He pleaded the Court to grant interim protection. Notwithstanding, considering that the appeal is pending before the Division Bench of the High Court, the Bench said that it would not entertain the parallel proceedings.

When the Counsel again pleaded for an interim protection for just 24 hours, averring that otherwise the plea will get infructuous, the Court replied that “you do not have enough documents to give you that kind of a relief.”

Case Title: PRACHIN SHIV MANDIR AVAM AKHADA SAMITI VS. DELHI DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY (DDA)