Saharanpur mosque demolition: HC stays Rs 6.41 crore recovery, seeks government reply

The Allahabad High Court on Friday stayed the recovery of Rs 6.41 crore in damages from the committee that managed a mosque that was demolished at the Saharanpur Collectorate last week, The Hindu reported.

Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal sought responses from the Uttar Pradesh government and the local administration to a petition by Mohammad Tanveer Ahmad, challenging the eviction proceedings issued to him under the Public Premises Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants Act, 1971.

The mosque was demolished on September 5 following a court’s decision to uphold an earlier order declaring the structure illegal.

Ahmad, however, told the High Court that he had submitted a written statement before a magistrate disputing the claim of illegal construction, and asserted that the mosque had existed on the disputed property for over 100 years, Live Law reported.

Lawyer Ashish Kumar Singh, representing the petitioner, contended that the government had acted hastily in demolishing the mosque, and that the structure was bulldozed within three days of the eviction order.

Singh contended that the original owners of the land, Yaqub Khan and Wahid Khan, had dedicated it as waqf property. A waqf is an endowment under Islamic law dedicated to a religious, educational or charitable cause.

Additional Advocate General Manish Goyal, representing the state government, argued that official records showed the property as belonging to the Collectorate, The Hindu reported. He further...

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