Delhi: The HC ordered that the land's status quo be maintained till February 12 while the DDA demolishes a centuries-old mosque in Mehrauli

Delhi: The HC ordered that the land's status quo be maintained till February 12 while the DDA demolishes a centuries-old mosque in Mehrauli

The Delhi Development Authority carried out a demolition operation in the restricted forest area with the aim of removing unlawful constructions, including the Akhundji mosque and a madrassa.

In the Mehrauli neighborhood of New Delhi on February 1, a member of the Central Reserve Police Force takes down a barrier to block access to the location of a mosque that was destroyed by local officials because it was an unauthorized building.

The Delhi High Court ordered the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) on Monday to preserve the status quo on the ground, after the demolition of Masjid Akhundji, a centuries-old mosque in the Mehrauli neighborhood of the nation's capital, a few days earlier.

According to the legal news website Live Law, Justice Sachin Dutta heard the case after the filing of an urgent plea by the Delhi Waqf Board's governing committee. Until February 12, the situation on the property where the 700-year-old mosque was destroyed will not change.

The 700-year-old mosque in Mehrauli, Delhi, has been destroyed. The petitioner (Intezamia Masajid Committee) would complete the fence following demarcation, as per the High Court's ruling, which we reminded them of in a petition that we submitted before to the demolition, according to the petitioner's attorney. Phawaja, Sham, told PTI.

Indian Express claims that on January 31, DDA destroyed the madrasa and Akhundji Mosque. The action was performed as part of a campaign to demolish unauthorized buildings in Delhi's Sanjay Van, a restricted forest area.

The DDA was described in the English newspaper as stating that "the removal of illegal structures that are religious in nature was approved by the Religious Committee, that was stated within the minutes of the meeting dated 27/01/2024."

The Archaeological Survey of India's official report also mentions the mosque of Akhondji, which was destroyed by the DDA. The IE report states that an ASI official included the mosque in a book in 1922.

According to mosque guardians, the 700-year-old building also housed 22 pupils enrolled in an Islamic boarding school.

A member of the mosque's management committee named Mohammed Zafar told AFP that the DDA had neither informed or served any legal notice to the committee before to the demolition effort, alerting them to the impending action. He said that "in the dark of night" was when the destruction was done.

According to Zafar, who spoke to AFP, no one was let to remove their personal belongings—including the Quran—from the mosque prior to its demolition, and all of the tombs inside the compound had been desecrated.

"My forebears were buried there, as did many of our esteemed figures. The graves are no longer visible. The tombs' and mosque's detritus have been taken out and disposed of somewhere." Zafar informed AFP.

Following the DDA's move, there is a significant police presence that has blocked access to the property and closed the roads outside the grounds.