Allahabad HC ‘no’ to mosque on its premises
The Allahabad High Court has refused to allow a Sunni waqf board’s mosque to continue in its premises, compelling the Supreme Court to ask the Uttar Pradesh government if it can provide alternate site for shifting the mosque.
Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the High Court, on Monday the Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud that a discussion was held by the various stakeholders and that mosque cannot be permitted in the premises of the High Court. He also turned down plea of Waqf Board’s counsel Kapil Sibal to be accommodative as all that it needs is only 400 sq metres.
“No way it can be accommodated, replied Rohatgi citing space crunch and parking woes.
The Court then proceeded to issue notice to the State government to ascertain if tite would be willing to provide alternate land for the mosque. Additional Advocate General Aishwarya Bhati has to file the State’s response.
The matter has its genesis in a petition filed in the Allahabad High Court by Abhishek Shukla, who had contended that the mosque was built on land, which originally belonged to the High Court.
On November 8 last year, a two-judge Bench of the Allahabad High Court of Chief Justice DB Bhosale and Justice MK Gupta had arrived at a conclusion that, “the unauthorized possession, as well as the unauthorized structures existing over the site in dispute, cannot be permitted to continue any longer.”
The High Court had also noted in its judgment that the there is an “acute crunch of space” in the Court and the Waqf property is causing hindrance to the movement of the fire brigade in the premises of the High Court.
It was also observed that due to the increase in the number of the judges and the shortage of space, the High Court could not arrange separate chambers for twelve judges, who are sharing six chambers. It had, therefore, directed the Waqf Board to remove the mosque and hand over the possession of the land to the High Court within three months.