Mosque in Allahabad HC premises: UP Sunni Waqf Board moves SC against HC verdict

The Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board (Waqf Board) has moved the Supreme Court against the Allahabad High Court judgment which had directed the Waqf Board to remove a mosque situated in the High Court premises..The appeal came up for hearing yesterday before a Bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud, which directed the parties to arrive at a consensus upon where the mosque should be constructed. .A petition was filed in Allahabad High Court by Abhishek Shukla, who 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 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 also noted in its judgment that the there is an “acute crunch of space” in the Court and observed that 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, therefore, directed the Waqf Board to remove the mosque and hand over the possession of the land to the High Court within three months..Further, it was held that if the Board fails to hand over the property, the same shall be taken over by the Registrar of the High Court with the assistance of local police personnel..This prompted Waqf Board to appeal to the Supreme Court..In the appeal filed through advocate Fuzail Ahmad Ayyubi, the Waqf Board contends that the judgment of the High Court erred in law, as it did not appreciate the facts and the law presented by the appellants..The petitioner has submitted that the mosque came into existence in the year 1959, but was initially not open to the public. In the year 1981, the mosque was made public and has since been used by the general public to offer Namaz five times a day..It is the petitioner’s case that the mosque causes no impediment to the entry and exit of the High Court, because it has had a separate entrance and exit since its inception..The petitioner has also submitted that since a certain part of the mosque was registered as Waqf property, the High Court erred in exercising power under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, and it is the Waqf Tribunal which has the jurisdiction over the subject matter. The petition states,.“..the High Court ought not to have exercised power under Article 226 of the Constitution of India. For cancellation of any such registration as in the present case, appropriate Waqf Tribunal should have been approached and any other proceedings are barred in terms of Section 85 of the Waqf Act, 1995.”.The apex court, after hearing the parties yesterday, ordered the following:.“List the matter on 16th March 2018. In the meantime, learned counsel for the parties shall discuss among themselves to arrive at a settlement, if possible.”.Senior Advocate Indira Jaising appeared and argued on behalf of the Waqf Board along with advocates Ibad, Abdul Qadir, Varun Mishra and Nehmat Kaur. The Allahabad High Court was represented by Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi..Read the Supreme Court order:.Read the Allahabad High Court judgement:.Read the petition:

Mosque in Allahabad HC premises: UP Sunni Waqf Board moves SC against HC verdict

Chandan Goswami

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