The Delhi High Court has expedited the date of the hearing to December 1 on a petition challenging the ban on offering prayers in the Mughal Mosque situated in the Mehrauli area.
The managing committee of the Mughal Mosque, appointed by the Delhi Waqf Board, had approached the high court last year, alleging that officials from the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) had abruptly and unlawfully ceased the offering of namaz in the mosque on May 13, 2022.
In response to the petitioner’s request for an early hearing, Justice Prateek Jalan issued an order, stating, “List on 01.12.2023. The previously scheduled date of hearing, i.e., 30.01.2024, has been canceled.” Advocate M. Sufian Siddiqui, representing the petitioner, emphasized that prayers had been regularly conducted inside the mosque until last year when the ASI abruptly halted them without prior notice.
Notably, the court had previously asked the ASI to clarify its policy regarding permitting prayers by devotees in religious places located within protected monuments.
In its response to the petition, the ASI asserted that the concerned mosque falls within the boundaries of the Qutub Minar and is thus located within a protected area where offering of prayers cannot be allowed. The ASI also cautioned that permitting worship in the Mughal Mosque could potentially set a precedent and influence other monuments as well.
The ASI’s response stated, “Qutub Minar is a Monument of National Importance and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is submitted that it is not a place of worship, since the time of its protection the monument or any part of it, has not been used for any type of worship by any community. It is submitted that the Mosque in question comes within the boundary of Qutub Minar Complex.”
