New Delhi, Feb. 20: After illegally demolishing the 800-year-old Akhondji Mosque in Mehrauli and targeting Sunehri Mosque, the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) is now planning to target Kangal Shah, a century-old mosque located in Dhaula Kuan. DDA has filed a petition seeking lifting of the stay granted by the Delhi High Court on November 2, 2023, against any coercive action against the mosque.
On February 14, while hearing DDA’s plea, the High Court asked the DDA under which law it wanted to remove the mosque built on private property. A single-judge bench of Justice Sachin Datta also issued notice to the managing committee of the mosque located near Kitchener Lake, Bagh Mochi in Dhaula Kuan and the concerned graveyard and directed it to file a reply to the DDA’s plea within 10 days.
Justice Datta also asked the DDA about the encroachment, whether it included the mosque, and what was the basis for considering its removal. Directing the DDA to submit clarifications and details during the next hearing on February 29, the judge asked, “Give me the exact reasons. What is it that you want to remove and why?”
In an interim order on November 2, 2023, a coordinate bench of the HC had said: “In the meanwhile, having regard to the above documents, and to the fact that the structures are admittedly over one hundred years old, the respondents are directed not to take any coercive action against the subject property until the next date of hearing.”
Seeking removal of the madrasa, the DDA’s counsel argued that it is not protected. Justice Dutta, however, asked, “Is a madrasa different from a mosque?” Earlier, on November 2, 2023, a single-judge bench of Justice Prateek Jalan had directed the DDA authorities not to take any coercive action against the mosque till the next hearing on January 31.
Jamaat-e-Islami Hind Assistant Secretary Inamur Rahman Khan, who is actively involved in protecting the property and other Waqf properties, said there was a serious threat of demolition of mosques, madrasas, dargahs and graveyards by the DDA’s horticulture department on the pretext of obtaining recommendation from the religious committee of the Delhi government.
The JIH official confirmed that the Dargah Kangal Shah property, more than a century old, is an active religious site where regular daily prayers, including Friday prayers, take place and bodies are buried. He emphasised that it is registered with the Delhi Waqf Board and cannot be treated as unauthorised as it is located on private land within the green zone. As a result, he claimed that the religious committee’s recommendation in the case was “beyond its scope and potentially illegal.”
