New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has granted additional time to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to conduct a survey of Jama Masjid in Delhi and submit its report.
A bench comprising Justices Prathiba M. Singh and Amit Sharma, while hearing PILs seeking to declare the mosque as a “protected monument,” directed ASI to submit its report at least a week before the next hearing, scheduled for January 29, 2025, said a PTI report.
On December 11, the bench reiterated its earlier order: “Let the survey/inspection as directed in the order dated October 23, 2024, be carried out, and a report be filed at least one week before the next date of hearing with advance copies to all parties appearing in the matter.”
In October, the court had directed the ASI, along with representatives from the Waqf Board, to inspect Jama Masjid and its vicinity. The court also requested a sketch and a detailed table outlining the purposes for which the premises were being used.
Senior advocate Anil Soni, representing ASI, sought additional time to complete the inspection on December 11. The court granted the extension and allowed one counsel for the petitioner to accompany the ASI team during the survey.
The PILs, filed by Suhail Ahmed Khan and Ajay Gautam in 2014, questioned why Jama Masjid was not under ASI’s jurisdiction as a protected monument.
Separately, during an internal review, ASI found that 250 protected monuments are registered as Waqf properties, as reported by The Indian Express. This issue is expected to be raised before the Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) reviewing the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2024, with ASI seeking to reclaim control over such properties.
The list of these properties includes several monuments mentioned in the 2006 Sachar Committee report, which highlighted “Waqf properties in India under unauthorised possession of ASI.”
