The Delhi high court on Wednesday said that it is not inclined to pass an order declaring the Jama Masjid as a protected monument.
The court was perusing an affidavit filed by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) on behalf of the Union cultural ministry, which stated that declaring the 17th century mosque as a protected monument would prohibit new construction within 100m of the Jama Masjid, and regulate area provisions, which requires prior permission for all construction-related activities within 200m of the mosque.
“Thus, there is a substantial impact of central protection on the 300 metres zone around the monument. Further, the Jama Masjid is under the protection and guardianship of Delhi Waqf Board (DWB) under the Waqf Act, 1995. In the event of declaring it as a protected monument, the regulations of prohibited and regulated areas would come into effect,” the six-page affidavit, filed on October 21 through advocate Anil Soni, said.
The affidavit came in response to a petition by Suhail Ahmed Khan, seeking the declaration of Jama Masjid as a protected monument, and the removal of all encroachments in and around the mosque.
A bench of justices Prathiba M Singh and Amit Sharma however directed ASI and DWB representatives to inspect the mosque and place on record any sketch along with the table of purposes for which its premises are being used, saying it will streamline the Jama Masjid’s administration and pass orders for protecting and conserving it.
“As far as the protected monument is concerned, the court is not inclined cause of the affidavit (filed by the ASI). Even if it’s not treated as a protected monument, revenues cannot go exclusively to a private person… We’ll have to see how to streamline the administration of Jama Masjid… We’ll get the revenue thing streamlined and pay it to the waqf because the waqf was clearly short of funds…,” the court said.
The court also directed all parties, including the petitioner, the Union ministry, and DWB to file a short note indicating the steps that can be taken for conservation and preservation of the mosque, and fixed December 11 as the next date of hearing.
On September 27, the court had taken a dim view of the Union ministry and ASI’s failure to produce a complete file related to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s decision to not classify Jama Masjid as a protected monument, despite its order, and granted the authorities a “final opportunity” to produce the complete original file.
However, the October 21 affidavit stated that the original file was still not traceable.
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