Municipal Commissioner's court orders demolition of 3 storeys of Sanjauli mosque in Shimla

The Shimla Municipal Commissioner's court on Saturday ordered demolition of the top three "unauthorised" storeys of the disputed Sanjauli mosque here and gave two months' time to the Waqf Board and the mosque committee to execute its orders.

The court also ordered the Waqf Board and the committee to bear all the expenses of the demolition and scheduled the next hearing on December 21 regarding the two remaining floors (ground and first floor).

Hindu organisations have been protesting against the unauthorised construction in the mosque and demanding demolition of the illegal storeys.

On 11 September, 10 people were injured during a protest.

A day later, the Muslim welfare committee had given a representation to the municipal corporation commissioner asking to seal an unauthorised portion of the mosque and said they will themselves demolish this unauthorised portion.

On Saturday, the court cited the committee's willingness to demolish the unauthorised portion and ordered demolition of the top three floors of the five-storey mosque.

Counsel for Waqf Board B S Thakur said the court has accepted the representation of the committee to demolish the "unauthorised" portion of the mosque and declined the plea of local citizens to become a third party in the case.

We do not have the detailed order yet, he added.

Talking to reporters, advocate Jagat Pal, who was representing the locals, gave a detailed account of status of the dispute since 2010 when a notice was given by the municipal corporation for demolition of the construction of single storey of the mosque under construction and claimed that the orders were not implemented.

During spot inspection by a junior engineer of the commission in 2018, it was found that five storeys were constructed, he added.

Pal said the land belonged to the government and the Waqf Board had permitted the Muslims to construct the mosque but not on government land or land owned by some other party.

However, the Waqf Board had claimed they have all the papers of the land where the mosque was built.

"We had already offered to demolish the unauthorised floors of the mosque on September 12 and we have no objection with the order. We are ready to demolish the unauthorised floors" said Muhammad Latif, president of the mosque committee after the commission's direction.

There have been similar demands in several other places and protests for scrapping of the Waqf Board and identification and verification of migrants coming to work in the state.