From Our Bureau
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday quashed the appeal of the Rajasthan Waqf Board against removal of Qalandari Masjid situated at Tiranga Hills in village Pur in Bhilwara district to allow Jindal Saw Limited to carry out mining of gold, silver, lead, zinc, copper, iron, cobalt and nickle in Dhedwas village in Bhilwara district.
The petition was to save the mosque platform from mining. The Waqf Board had come in appeal against the High Court permitting the firm to demolish the mosque wall if it obstructs its work.
Jindal Saw Limited was leased out 1556 hectare on December 8, 2010, to carry out the mining and it succeeded in securing an order from the Rajasthan High Court on 29.09.2021 to pull down the structure claimed to be a mosque.
A Bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and V Ramasubramanian held that a dilapidated wall or a platform cannot be conferred a status of religious place for the purpose of offering prayers/Namaaz as contended by the Waqf Board, in view of no proof of dedication or user.
It said there is no evidence at any given point of time that the structure was being used as a mosque. It noted that the mosque was not on the land leased out to the firm for mining purposes and the letter dated 17.04.2012 by the Anjuman Committee is based upon hearsay and is not of any binding value.
The committee had claimed that there is a vall and a Chabutra (platform) on the Qalandari Masjid where in olden times labourers used to offer prayers. The court noted that the elders have informed that they have not seen anybody praying Namaaz nor there is access to water or stairs to reach the platform.
