New Delhi: Delhi High Court Friday sought a response from New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) on a plea by the imam of the Race Course mosque seeking restoration of electricity and water supply to the religious structure situated on a Lutyens’ Delhi land parcel recently taken over by central govt for “public purpose”.
“You cannot disconnect electricity without notice,” Justice Subramonium Prasad remarked as a division bench, also comprising Justice Renu Bhatnagar, heard an appeal filed by Mohd Haroon against an Oct 15 order of a single judge refusing to direct restoration of the utilities. The counsel submitted that though the disconnection was purportedly linked to a high court order concerning the demolition of surrounding slum clusters, the mosque was not part of those proceedings. Challenging the single judge’s order, Haroon also argued that the imam’s uninterrupted occupation of the mosque for three decades could not be disregarded while holding that he had no right, title or interest in the premises. The plea termed the finding legally unsustainable.
On Oct 29, the high court refused to allow worshippers to enter the mosque, located within the Jaipur Polo Ground premises. The dispute over utilities is part of a wider legal contest over the mosque’s future and access to it. Centre had assured the court that no coercive action would be taken against the structure for the time being.