By IANS,
New Delhi : The Delhi High Court Friday asked North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NDMC) to immediately raze the illegal construction from the site of a purported mosque excavated near the historic Jama Masjid in Delhi.
The court asked the NDMC to immediately comply with the court’s July 30 order which asked the civic authority to demolish the illegal construction in central Delhi’s Subhash Park area with the assistance of police under the supervision of Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
A special bench of Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Justice Rajiv Shakdher and Justice M.L. Mehta said: “The sequitur is that Delhi Police will have to make necessary arrangement for the NDMC to carry out its task (demolition of illegal construction) of the order dated July 30, 2012, and the statutory mandate be carried out under the supervision of the ASI, who is in control of the area.”
“We expect the Delhi Police and authorities to comply with this mandate forthwith,” the bench said, adding “the statutory mandate has to be carried out without fail and expeditiously as already enough time has expired and the mandate has not been carried out”.
The court also opined: “In our view, it is the bounden duty of the Delhi Police to ensure that peace is maintained and yet law of the land is not breached holding out threats of possible repercussions.”
The structure was allegedly built by Delhi legislator Shoaib Iqbal at the excavation site at Subhash Park where the ruins of a purported 17th century mosque were found.
Passing the judgment, the court dismissed the Delhi Police’s reluctance to carry out the demolition on the plea of apprehension of breach of peace. Police had said they could not provide force to the NDMC to remove the illegal construction as the holy month of Ramzan was then on and they had to prepare for the Independence Day and the fast of Baba Ramdev in Ramlila Ground nearby.
“On examination of the averments in the application, to a large extent the application has become infructuous. This is so as the reasons stated for delay in action no more exist as those events are over,” the court said.
The bench also rejected Iqbal’s plea for restrictions on the demolition of new construction and asked the court not to pass any order till ASI submits its report. He also sought permission from court to allow the people to offer ‘namaz’ at the disputed site.
Rejecting Iqbal’s plea for permission for ‘namaz’, the bench said: “The area has been cordoned off so that unhindered work can be carried out by the ASI. Even ultimately if a monument is found it will be a protected monument.”
“It is not a monument where namaz was being rendered regularly as, in fact, there was no structure but only a park. There can be, thus, no question of permitting any namaz at the site.”
The court had earlier put a stop on construction work at the site and on July 30 asked the NDMC to raze the new structure so that the ASI can investigate if the Akbarabadi Masjid, whose ruins were being claimed to have been found there, did exist or not.
People in the area close to Jama Masjid started the construction of a mosque at the site at Subhash Park with assistance from Iqbal after a building’s remains were discovered during excavation for Delhi Metro work. These were said to be the remains of the 17th century Mughal-era Akbarabadi mosque.
According to the ASI, Subhash Park fell within the restricted zone of two protected heritage sites — Sunehri Masjid and Red Fort — and any construction in the area required permission from the National Monuments Authority.