New Delhi: In the case of razing down a portion of a mosque at Kushinagar, disobeying the Supreme Court's direction, the top court sought the Uttar Pradesh administration's response on why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against it, PTI reported.
A bench of Justices B R Gavai and Augustine George Masih also directed that until further orders, there shall be no demolition of the structure in question.
The bench passed the order while hearing a contempt plea against the authorities concerned in Kushinagar for their alleged wilful disobedience and failure to comply with the top court's November 13 last year directions.
In its November 13, 2024 verdict, the top court laid down pan-India guidelines and barred demolition of properties without a prior show cause notice and 15 days' time for the aggrieved party to respond.
The fresh petition, filed through advocate Abdul Qadir Abbasi, said the authorities had demolished the outer and front area of the Madni mosque in Kushinagar on February 9.
Senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, appearing for the petitioners, said the structure in question was constructed on private land owned by the petitioners.
He said the construction was under the due sanction of municipal authorities according to a sanction order of 1999.
Ahmadi argued that the demolition was carried out in "egregious contempt" of the directions issued by the apex court in its judgement in November of last year.
"Issue notice as to why proceedings for contempt should not be initiated against the respondents," the bench said and posted the matter for hearing after two weeks.
"It is further directed that until further orders, there shall be no demolition of the structure," the top court said.
At the outset, the bench told Ahmadi that the apex court was asking the petitioners alleging contempt in demolition matters to approach the jurisdictional high courts with their grievances.
While referring to the directions issued by the top court in last year's verdict, the senior advocate said, "Please see the manner in which they have demolished this (structure)." The plea alleged that the demolition was carried out without following the due legal process and in clear contravention of the guidelines issued by the top court.
It claimed the authorities failed to provide the petitioners with the mandatory opportunity for a hearing before proceeding with the demolition.
"This act of proceeding without affording an opportunity of hearing is a violation of the fundamental principles of natural justice, which were explicitly expected to be followed by the authorities, as outlined in the directions issued by this court," the plea said.
"The administration, by taking such an action in haste, has shown complete disregard for the religious sentiments of the local Muslim community, who rely on this structure for their religious practices," it said.
The plea said the land on which the mosque was built was purchased by the petitioners through registered sale deeds dated June 29, 1988, March 28, 1989, June 30, 1989, and February 23, 2013. It said the map for the construction of the mosque was sanctioned in September 1999 by the Nagar panchayat, Hata.
The plea alleged that a local politician had lodged a complaint in December last year claiming encroachment of the land in question.
It said the SDM of Hata had carried out an inspection and filed a detailed report, which said there was no encroachment by the petitioners.
The plea sought direction from the authorities to maintain the status quo at the mosque.
It also sought directions for restoration or suitable compensation to rectify the situation caused by the demolition.