Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court on Saturday dismissed a writ petition filed against the demolition of a mosque in Sambhal district, allegedly constructed on pond land.
The order was passed by Justice Dinesh Pathak on a petition filed by the mosque committee.
The petitioner said that the local Muslim community has been praying peacefully in the mosque in the district’s Gosulbara Ravan Bujurg area since 2009, and no proper notice or opportunity of hearing was provided before the order of demolition was passed.
After hearing arguments from both sides, the court disposed of the petition and directed the mosque committee to approach the competent lower court with a stay application.
The petitioners had challenged a September 2 order passed under Section 67 of the Uttar Pradesh Revenue Code, 2006.
They argued that the marriage hall, already demolished on October 2 with four bulldozers, was built on pond land, but claimed that carrying out demolition on Gandhi Jayanti and Dussehra posed risks of law-and-order disturbance.
The administration had also served a notice to the mosque, parts of which are allegedly built on government land, giving the committee a four-day deadline.
Even before the deadline expired, members of the mosque committee reportedly began pulling down sections of the wall themselves.
On Dussehra day, the Sambhal district administration launched a major demolition drive against illegal encroachments, bringing down a marriage hall built on government land in Rawa Buzurg village.
The operation, carried out on Thursday morning, turned the area into a heavy security zone, with nearly 200 police and Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) personnel deployed. Drones were also used to monitor the exercise in real time.
During the last hearing on Friday, the High Court had asked the petitioners to submit land records. The state government, District Magistrate, Superintendent of Police Sambhal, ADM, Tehsildar, and Gram Sabha were named as parties in the petition.
Advocates Arvind Kumar Tripathi and Shashank Shri Tripathi represented the mosque committee, while Chief Standing Counsel JN Maurya and Standing Counsel Ashish Mohan Srivastava appeared for the government during the hearing on Saturday.
