HC asks ASI to clarify policy on allowing prayers at protected monuments

The Delhi high court on Thursday asked the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to clarify its policy on allowing prayers at religious places located inside protected monuments.

The order by Justice Prateek Jalan came during a hearing on a plea against prayers inside the Mughal Masjid located inside the Qutub Minar complex.The mosque is located at the entrance of the Qutub complex, an area enclosed and protected by ASI. Even though it’s an unnamed mosque, locals call it Mughal Masjid.

The managing committee of the mosque, which was appointed by the Delhi Waqf Board, approached the high court last year, saying that ASI officials have stopped the performance of namaz in the mosque on May 13, 2022 in an “absolutely unlawful, arbitrary and precipitous manner”.

During the hearing, the ASI counsel told the court that “there is no question” of permitting prayers in protected monuments. The judge responded the lawyer’s statement was “perhaps overboard” and asked him to clarify the ASI’s position.

“We will hold ASI to it.. that in all protected monuments all over the country no worship is permitted by any religion. There can’t be different rules for different monuments for different religions unless it is backed by law.. Let us understand the policy,” the court said.

The ASI counsel sought time to take instructions, and added that no prayers were ever performed inside the mosque ever since it was declared a protected monument.

However, objecting to this submission, advocate M Sufian Siddiqui for the Waqf Board said prayers were being performed inside the mosque on a “regular basis” until last year when the ASI stopped the practise without any notice.

He further said that as per the law pertaining to ancient sites, prayers cannot be stopped in a religious place after it has been taken over by the authorities on the ground of being an ancient monument.

The court asked the ASI to produce the records available with respect to the issuance of a notification declaring the mosque as a protected monument in 1914.

It also orally observed that if a statute provides for continuation of prayers in a protected monument, it has to continue.

The court said it is to be examined if the mosque was part of the protected area and whether performing prayers there are liable to be prohibited.

In its reply to the petition on July 18, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) said that since the mosque comes within the boundary of Qutub Minar, prayers cannot be permitted there.

The ASI has cautioned that allowing prayers in the mosque will “not only set an example but it may impact other monuments too”.

“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 the building 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,” the ASI said in its reply.