Madhya Pradesh High Court Upholds Partial Demolition of Mosque in Larger Public Interest

 Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh high court has upheld the partial demolition of a mosque in Ujjain in the state, carried out by the local civic body, saying that it was done in the larger public interest.

The move to pull down a part of the mosque was taken by the Ujjain Municipal Corporation in accordance with law and in the larger public interest, Justice Sanjeev N Bhatt held on Wednesday.

The civic body demolished a part of the mosque to facilitate a road widening project keeping in view the 2028 Ujjain Kumbh.

The court observed that the civic body has not acted in an arbitrary manner by deciding to go for partial demolition of the mosque, while dismissing two petitions filed to challenge the action of the municipality body.

The mosque is registered as a Waqf property.

The petitioners argued that the structure was an ancient religious site that existed for generations and that its partial demolition would infringe their rights under Article 14, 25 and 26 of the Constitution.

The court however held that the action of the corporation and the state could not be regarded as ‘arbitrary, unjust, unconstitutional, or violative of Articles 14, 25, 26 and 300 A of the Constitution of India.’

The court cited demolition of portions of ten temples and one mosque on the same road for the purpose of widening it and further noted that the authorities had already taken action against constructions involving 80 religious places.

“Therefore, it cannot be said that the respondent Corporation is acting in an arbitrary manner or in violation of the Article 14 of the Constitution of India.”, the court held.

“It is a hard reality that with the efflux of time, the population of the city”, the court observed.

“Consequently, no case is made out for interference under Article 226 of the Constitution of India”, the court remarked, while dismissing the petitions.