The Allahabad high court on Friday directed the Uttar Pradesh government to file its reply within three weeks on a writ petition challenging the demolition of a mosque on the Collectorate premises in Saharanpur. The court also stayed the realisation of ₹ 6.41 crore in damages imposed on the mosque management and fixed October 12 for the next hearing.
The respondents include the Uttar Pradesh government through the Saharanpur district magistrate and Abdul Hamid, manager/maulavi of the mosque. Senior advocate Ashish Kumar Singh, appearing for the petitioner, argued that the eviction order was passed without properly determining the ownership of the land. Additional advocate general Manish Goel opposed the petition, arguing that the petitioner had taken contradictory positions by claiming the property was both owned by the zamindars and dedicated as waqf.
He said revenue records showed the names of Wahid Khan and Yaqub Khan in connection with the property and that the mosque had also been entered in the waqf register. He said there was no document establishing when the alleged waqf dedication was made and that the Sunni Central Waqf Board had not been made a party to the proceedings. Goel said the property was recorded as Collectorate/Kutchery in government records and that the authorities had treated the entries showing private ownership as fraudulent. He also said no document establishing ownership had been produced before the authorities.
