Conversion Of Public Places Of Worship Into Residences By Caretakers Is Contrary To Law: Delhi High Court Orders Waqf Board To Secure Mosque Property

The Delhi High Court has ruled that conversion of public places of worship into residences and their occupation by persons, who take care of the places, is contrary to law. Noting that the Mosque was allotted in favour of the Delhi Waqf Board by the Delhi Administration in 1945, by way of a Gazette Notification, the court said even though an independent Imam was appointed for the mosque in 1981, Ahmed continued to encroach and occupy the property next to the mosque in an illegal manner for several decades. On the contrary, the Waqf Board submitted before the High Court that the petitioner’s father was discharging the duties of an Imam in the mosque and the petitioner had come into possession of the property due to his father’s position. The Petitioner's father was an Imam in the mosque and in the Court’s opinion, it could be due to this reason that the Petitioner unauthorisedly came into occupation of the said property,” the court said. While dismissing the writ petition and directing the Waqf Board to secure the land allotted to it under the Gazette Notification, the Court added: “In view of the fact that, admittedly, the Petitioner has been unable to show any title to the property in question and keeping in mind the nature of the property which is a place of worship allotted to the Waqf, in order to uphold public policy and to curb illegalities of this nature, this Court holds that the Petitioner is liable to pay occupation charges to the Waqf Board for unauthorised occupation as also costs of the litigation.” The court ordered the petitioner to pay a sum of Rs 15 Lakh to the Delhi Waqf Board within a period of eight weeks, considering the duration of "illegal occupation of the premises and the location of the property".