Lakshmi Bai statue won't hinder prayer rights at Shahi Idgah Park, Delhi HC told

Civic authorities on Monday informed Delhi High Court that the rights of persons offering prayers at Shahi Idgah Park in Delhi's Sadar Bazar would not be endangered by the installation of freedom fighter Lakshmi Bai's statue.

The court was also informed that the statue has been installed by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) at the park.

A bench of chief justice Manmohan and justice Tushar Rao Gedela consequently disposed of a plea filed by the Shahi Idgah managing committee challenging the installation of the freedom fighter's statue, noting that the issue had been mutually resolved by the parties.

The committee had moved against a single judge's order that refused directions to restrain the installation of the statue of the historical figure.

During the hearing, the counsel appearing for the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and MCD said the rights of persons offering prayers at the site in question had not been endangered by the installation of the statute and the adjoining boundary wall. Following the submissions, the bench recorded it and disposed of the appeal.

“The counsel for DDA and MCD state that the appeal has become infructuous as the statue of Maharani Lakshmi Bai has been installed at one corner of the Idgah Park, owned by DDA, and that too after construction of a boundary wall. They clarified that the right of the appellant to offer prayers and perform prayers is not endangered in any manner by the installation of the statue or the boundary wall,” the bench noted.

The appellant's counsel informed the bench that the mistrust that had brewed between the parties had been resolved.

The high court had earlier questioned the opposition to the installation of the statue at the park by the MCD observing that it did not want the issue to become a "flashpoint unnecessarily."

The court had also noted that the person whose statue was installed was not a religious, but a national figure, underlining that Rani Lakshmi Bai was a national hero and history should not be divided on communal politics.

The court, therefore, pulled up the idgah managing committee for making “scandalous pleadings” in its plea. The court also took exception to certain paragraphs against the single judge in the appeal, calling it "divisive."

The idgah committee's petition seeking directions to civic authorities to not encroach upon the Shahi Idgah, claiming it to be waqf property, was rejected by the single judge's order.

The committee referred to a gazette notification published in 1970 which said the Shahi Idgah Park is an ancient property built during the Mughal period, which is being used for namaz. It was submitted that such a vast property could accommodate as many as 50,000 namazis at one time.

The single judge had said the petitioner committee has no legal or fundamental right to oppose the maintenance and upkeep of the parks or open ground, surrounding the Shahi Idgah, by the DDA and thereby oppose the installation of the statue by the MCD.