Delhi High Court seeks ASI’s records on 1914 notification declaring mosque within Qutub complex

The Delhi High Court directed all parties involved to submit their written statements and arguments, including other relevant judgements, within three weeks.

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has directed the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to provide records pertaining to a January 24, 1914, notification declaring a mosque located within the Qutub Minar complex as a protected monument. The court’s direction came in response to a plea from the Managing Committee of the mosque, appointed by the Delhi Waqf Board, which claimed that prayers in the mosque were stopped.

The mosque in question, known as the Mughal Mosque, is situated within the Qutub Complex but lies outside the Qutub enclosure. The restrictions on prayers at the said mosque were imposed in May last year and have persisted since then. Appearing for the Managing Committee, Advocate M. Sufian Siddiqui argued that prayers had been offered in the mosque since its establishment until May 13 last year when the authorities intervened.

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He submitted that the mosque is not covered by the protected monument designation issued by ASI in its aforementioned notification. Justice Prateek Jalan, who presided over the case, stated that the court needs to consider whether the mosque falls under the protected area specified in the 1914 notification and the implications it may have on the permissibility of worship at the mosque.

The court directed all parties to submit their written arguments and any relevant judgments within three weeks, posting the matter for hearing next on October 13. On the other hand, the Managing Committee of the Board contends that even if the Mosque is a protected monument, section 16 of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958, along with relevant Rules, mandates that authorities must maintain the religious nature and sanctity of the mosque and protect the worshippers’ right to assemble and offer prayers.

According to the plea, the denial of the opportunity for Muslims to offer prayers at the mosque represents a forceful approach that contradicts the liberal values enshrined in the Constitution and the liberalism reflected in the common people’s daily lives.

The plea says that such inaction from the authorities curtails and stifles the rights guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India, thereby hindering citizens from seeking timely redressal of grievances.