Shimla’s Sanjauli mosque unauthorised, MC chief orders building’s demolition
Order comes after Waqf Board and mosque committee unable to present land ownership records. The case that had been heard more than 50 times in the MC commissioner’s court over the past 15 years.
The municipal corporation court in Shimla on Saturday declared the entire mosque in Sanjauli area unauthorised and ordered the demolition of the entire five-floor structure.
MC commissioner Bhupender Kumar Attri ruled that the mosque had been built without necessary permissions, including a building permit, a no-objection certificate and a sanctioned map, in violation of rules. He ordered the demolition of the lower two floors as well in addition to the three floors that were ordered to be demolished in October last year.
This puts to rest the case that had been heard more than 50 times in the MC commissioner’s court over the past 15 years.
The detailed copy of the order was awaited.
The order comes after the Waqf Board was not able to present the papers of ownership of the mosque land. The mosque committee was not able to provide the map of the structure or the no-objection certificate (NOC), though the Waqf Board kept claiming ownership of the land for over a decade.
“The MC commissioner has ordered the demolition of the mosque as the mosque committee or the Waqf Board failed to provide records pertaining to the ownership of the land on which the mosque has been built,” said advocate Jagat Pal, representing local residents of Sanjauli.
Now the entire mosque, built in the residential area in Sanjauli, will have to be demolished. The demolition would have to be carried out by the Waqf Board and Sanjauli Mosque Committee themselves.
Fight expedited case
On October 5, 2024, the MC commissioner had ordered the demolition of three illegal floors of the mosque following a protest in Shimla on September 11. The mosque committee had given an undertaking to the MC commissioner, offering to demolish the unauthorised portion.
On September 11, at least 10 people, including six police personnel and four protesters, were injured when police had to resort to lathicharge and use water cannons to prevent agitators from breaking barricades and reaching the vicinity of the mosque. This protest was the fallout of a communal clash at Mehli in Shimla on August 31 after which members of a community hid in the Sanjauli mosque. From September 1, residents held protests against unauthorised mosques in Shimla and other districts of Himachal Pradesh.
On October 21, the Himachal Pradesh high court directed the Shimla MC to decide within eight weeks on the case concerning the alleged illegal construction of Sanjauli mosque. The court directed the MC to act upon the application that was first filed in 2010.
