The Delhi High Court on Tuesday scheduled a hearing on April 27 for a plea seeking orders to allow Ramzan prayers at a mosque within the Qutub Minar complex during the month of Ramadan. This year, Ramadan finishes on April 22 or 23.
Justice Manoj Kumar Ohri issued a notice on an application filed by the Managing Committee of the Delhi Waqf Board to have a pending petition against the alleged stopping of prayers in the mosque to be disposed of as soon as possible. One of the prayers in the application was to allow prayers at the mosque during the ongoing Ramazan month.
The mosque in question, known as the ‘Mughal Mosque,’ is part of the Qutub Complex. It is, however, outside the Qutub perimeter and is not the well-known ‘Masjid Quwwatul Islam,’ where prayers are permitted. Prayer restrictions at the Mughal Mosque were established in May of last year and have been in effect since then.
The Court sought reply from the Centre and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) before scheduling the application for hearing on April 27. The main petition will be heard on August 21.
The application was filed in response to a recent Supreme Court directive demanding that the dispute be decided expeditiously by the High Court.
Advocate M. Sufian Siddiqui represented the petitioner, while Advocate Kirtiman Singh represented the Centre.
When the case was first scheduled for hearing in early May, Siddiqui stated that the plea for allowing namaz during Ramazan would be infructuous. The case was then scheduled for hearing on April 27.
When Siddiqui again claimed that the case would become infructuous at that point, the court refused to change the date.
The application for an early hearing of the matter states that the right to speedy justice is a concomitant of Article 21 of the Indian Constitution. It reads, “Considerably, the captioned matter is ripe for final hearing as the pleadings are complete; however, the next date of hearing is 21.08.2023, which is almost five months later. Significantly, with each passing day, on the one hand, the petitioner’s Fundamental Rights are being violated on a daily basis, that too five times a day, and on the other hand, the Constitution’s assurance of equality and the primacy of the ‘Rule of Law’ is eroding.”
Previously, the Centre told the Court that the mosque is a protected monument and that the Saket court is dealing with a case involving it.
In the petitioner’s case, even if the Mosque is a protected monument, section 16 of the Ancient Monuments and Archeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958, read with the relevant Rules, states that it is the authorities’ bounden duty to maintain the religious nature and sanctity attached to the mosque, as well as to protect the right of worshippers to assemble and offer prayers.
“In the denial of Muslims, the opportunity to offer Namaz in the instant mosque is a manifestation of a muscular approach that is antithetical to liberal values enshrined in the Constitution and liberalism reflected in every aspect of common people’s life,” the petition stated.
The plea further stated, “Ex-consequenti, the authorities cannot maintain inexplicable and unconscionable silence for the simple reason that a citizen has a right to seek redressal of his grievance in a timely manner, and such inaction curtails, smothers, and cripples his rights as contemplated under Article 21 of the Constitution of India.”
