On Action Against Delhi Waqf Board Properties Under Central Vista, High Court Says...

The high court told the Delhi Waqf Board on Monday that it can approach the court whenever the Centre takes any action against its properties in connection with the Central Vista Redevelopment Project.

Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav observed that the project has received the Supreme Court's nod and asked the board to withdraw its petition filed in 2021, seeking directions for the preservation and protection of six of its properties in the area.

The senior counsel appearing in the court on behalf of the petitioner asserted that the waqf board was not saying that the "Central Vista project has to go", but was only seeking an assurance that it would not be dispossessed of its properties.

"Withdraw this petition. We do not want to complicate. As and when they take any action, you can come," the judge said.

The court allowed the board to withdraw the petition with the liberty to file a fresh plea if required.

The board moved the high court in 2021 for the preservation and protection of six of its properties in the area in which the redevelopment work was ongoing at that time, namely Masjid Zabta Ganj at Mansingh Road, Jama Masjid at Red Cross Road, Masjid Sunehri Bagh Road Near Udyog Bhawan, Mazar Sunehri Bagh Road behind Motilal Nehru Marg, Masjid Krishi Bhawan inside the Krishi Bhawan compound and Masjid Vice President at the official residence of the Vice President of India.

In December 2021, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had assured the high court that "nothing is happening" to the Delhi Waqf Board properties in the vicinity of the project and said that being a "long plan", the redevelopment had not reached the properties in question.

The high court had then adjourned the hearing, saying it had "full faith" in the solicitor general and turned down the petitioner's lawyer's request to take the statement on record.

In December last year, the waqf counsel had claimed that during the pendency of the proceedings, the mazar near the Sunehri Bagh mosque was demolished.

The Centre's counsel had, however, said the mazar was demolished by the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) and no action was being taken with respect to the properties.

Claiming that the six properties in the redevelopment area "are more than an ordinary mosque and have a distinction attached to them", the Delhi Waqf Board has said in its petition that neither the British government nor the Government of India ever created any hindrance in the observance of religious practices at these properties, which were always preserved.

"The waqf properties, subject matter of the present petition, are all more than 100 years old and are continuously being used for religious purpose. It is not the case that the government buildings were built first and thereafter, these properties came into existence. To the contrary, these properties were well in existence when the government buildings were constructed around them or in the vicinity," the petition filed through lawyer Wajeeh Shafiq has claimed.

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