LI Network
Published on: 26 July 2023 at 15:16 IST
The Delhi High Court issued a directive to the Railways to refrain from taking any action based on the notices affixed to two mosques located on Tilak Marg and Babar Road.
The notices had demanded the removal of “unauthorised” structures and alleged “encroachments” from the Railways’ property. Justice Prateek Jalan, presiding over the case, granted time to the central government counsel to seek instructions on the matter, following a petition by the Delhi Waqf Board.
The Delhi Waqf Board claimed that the notices were overly “generic” in nature and disputed the Railways’ assertion that the two mosques – Masjid Takia Babbar Shah near the Railway Bridge on Tilak Marg and Masjid Bachchu Shah on Babar Marg, popularly known as Bengali Market Mosque – were unauthorized structures on Railway land.
During the hearing, the court observed that the notices lacked essential information. They were not signed, did not specify the authority responsible for their issuance, and seemingly could be indiscriminately pasted on any structure.
Justice Jalan raised concerns over the ambiguous nature of the notices and questioned their validity. He remarked, “What kind of a notice is this? Some generic thing… is it being posted everywhere? The way it reads, it can be posted on any (building). It does not refer to any building, no date, no nothing.”
The court’s decision to halt any immediate action on the mosques is pending further examination and clarification from the central government counsel regarding the legitimacy and specific details of the notices.
