The Supreme Court has dismissed a petition challenging the Delhi High Court order which had refused to advance the hearing of a plea by the Managing Committee of Delhi Waqf Board against the Archaeological Society of India (ASI) stopping namaz at the Mughal Mosque in the city’s Mehrauli area.
The apex court, however, requested the high court to take up the pending matter and decide it as expeditiously as possible.
A bench of Justices Krishna Murari and C T Ravikumar passed the order while hearing a petition filed by the Managing Committee of Delhi Waqf Board through advocate M Sufian Siddiqui against the 7 March order of the high court.
“We do not find any good ground to interfere in the matter which is already pending before the high court. Accordingly, the Special Leave Petition is dismissed,” the bench said in its order. “However looking in the facts and circumstances of the case, we request the high court to take up the pending matter, and decide the same in accordance with law on its own merits as expeditiously as possible,” the bench said.
The grievance of the petitioner before the high court is that officials of the ASI have completely stopped namaz in the Mughal mosque since 13 May last year in an “absolutely unlawful, arbitrary and precipitous manner”, without serving any notice or order.
The petitioner told the apex court that they were aggrieved by the high court’s order which re-notified the matter to 21 August observing that similar relief is pending in another application.
The plea said the holy month of Ramzan culminates upon Eid-ul-Fitr, which is scheduled either on 21 April or 22 April, and by adjourning the matter to 21 August the high court has rendered the application infructuous for all practical purposes.
It said the mosque is located inside the Qutub complex but outside of the Qutub enclosure, the area which comprises protected monuments.
The plea said, “The high court erred in not appreciating that the remedies under Article 226 of the Constitution are to save the persons/ citizens from the excess of the State’s power, the said constitutional goal cannot be achieved by delaying the adjudication.” It said the mosque is not notified as a protected monument or even a part of the monuments declared as protected, and prior to 13 May 13 last year, it was never closed for namaz.
In its reply, the ASI has said that allowing prayers at the Mughal mosque will “not only set an example but it may also impact other monuments too”.
“Qutub Minar is a Monument of National Importance and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is submitted that it is not a place of worship, since the time of its protection the monument or any part of it, has not been used for any type of worship by any community. It is submitted that the Mosque in question comes within the boundary of Qutub Minar Complex,” the reply said.
