Allahabad HC refuses to stay Sambhal mosque demolition, directs petitioners to move trial court

Prayagraj: In a jolt to the petitioners, the Allahabad High Court on Saturday dismissed an urgent petition filed by the Sambhal mosque committee seeking a stay on the demolition of a mosque, marriage hall, and hospital allegedly built on government land.

The single-judge Bench of Justice Dinesh Pathak heard the plea moved by Masjid Sharif Gausul Wara Rawa Buzurg and its Mutawalli, Minjar.

After hearing arguments from both sides, the court disposed of the petition and directed the mosque committee to approach the competent lower court with a stay application.

The petitioners had challenged a September 2 order passed under Section 67 of the Uttar Pradesh Revenue Code, 2006.

They argued that the marriage hall, already demolished on October 2 with four bulldozers, was built on pond land, but claimed that carrying out demolition on Gandhi Jayanti and Dussehra posed risks of law-and-order disturbance.

The administration had also served a notice to the mosque, parts of which are allegedly built on government land, giving the committee a four-day deadline.

Even before the deadline expired, members of the mosque committee reportedly began pulling down sections of the wall themselves.

On Dussehra day, the Sambhal district administration launched a major demolition drive against illegal encroachments, bringing down a marriage hall built on government land in Rawa Buzurg village.

The operation, carried out on Thursday morning, turned the area into a heavy security zone, with nearly 200 police and Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) personnel deployed. Drones were also used to monitor the exercise in real time.

During the last hearing on Friday, the High Court had asked the petitioners to submit land records. The state government, District Magistrate, Superintendent of Police Sambhal, ADM, Tehsildar, and Gram Sabha were named as parties in the petition.

Advocates Arvind Kumar Tripathi and Shashank Shri Tripathi represented the mosque committee, while Chief Standing Counsel J.N. Maurya and Standing Counsel Ashish Mohan Srivastava appeared for the government during the hearing on Saturday.

IANS