New Delhi, Jan 6 (PTI) The Delhi High Court sought the responses of the Ministry of Urban Development, MCD and Delhi Waqf Board on Tuesday on a plea challenging an order issued by authorities to remove alleged encroachments from a land adjoining the Syed Faiz Elahi mosque and graveyard at Turkman Gate.
Reportedly, suicide bomber Umar Un Nabi visited the 100-year-old mosque in Old Delhi and stayed there for more than 10 minutes before carrying out a high-intensity explosion near the Red Fort on November 10, 2025, that claimed 15 lives. The blast took place in a car.
Justice Amit Bansal issued notices to the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD), Delhi Development Authority (DDA), Ministry of Urban Development’s Land and Development Office (L&DO), Public Works Department (PWS) and Delhi Waqf Board on a petition filed by the managing committee of the Masjid Syed Faiz Elahi.
The court said the “matter requires consideration” and asked the authorities to file their replies to the plea within four weeks. It listed the matter for further hearing on April 22.
The petition has challenged the December 22, 2025 order of the MCD, declaring that all structures beyond 0.195 acres of land are liable to be demolished and that no documentary evidence has been produced to establish ownership or lawful possession of the land by the managing committee of the mosque or the Delhi Waqf Board. The 0.195-acre land houses the mosque.
The MCD’s decision was taken in terms of a November 12, 2025 order of a division bench of the high court that granted three months to the civic body and the PWD to clear 38,940 sq. ft of encroachments at the Ramlila Ground near Turkman Gate.
The encroachments included portions of a road, a footpath, a “baraat ghar”, a parking area and a private diagnostic centre.
The high court had passed the order while dealing with a public interest litigation (PIL) plea moved by Save India Foundation, an organisation that was represented in the court by advocate Umesh Chandra Sharma.
In October 2025, a joint survey was conducted by the authorities, in which it was recorded that there were encroachments on the land, certain portions of which belonged to authorities, including the MCD, PWD and L&DO.
Following the notice, MCD officials visited the site to mark the encroached area on January 4, but faced resistance from locals, prompting increased police deployment.
Seeking quashing of the MCD order, the managing committee said the property in question is being used by it and it is paying lease rent to the waqf board.
The plea says the land is a notified waqf property governed by the Waqf Act and therefore, the Waqf Tribunal has an exclusive jurisdiction over all disputes relating to it.
It claims that neither the petitioner nor the waqf board was made parties to the PIL before the high court and even the survey was conducted without giving them a hearing.
The petitioner’s counsel submitted that they have no objection to the removal of encroachments from the land and that the functioning of the “baraat ghar” and the clinic has been stopped.
He said the committee’s sole grievance is in respect of the graveyard operating on the land.
The counsel for the L&DO contended that there is no infirmity in the MCD order, which was passed bona fide in terms of the November 12 high court order that has not been challenged.
He said the waqf board’s counsel was duly heard before the order was passed.
The MCD’s counsel also said that land measuring 0.195 acres (934 sq. yards) was leased on February 15, 1940, and that no action is being proposed in respect of the land covered under the lease. PTI SKV RC
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.