Century-old mosque faces removal in Central Vista project despite Centre’s assurance
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Six mosques under the Delhi Waqf Board, which were sought to be protected from demolition under the Central government’s flagship Central Vista project through a petition dismissed by the Delhi High Court in 2024 after the Centre stated that the redevelopment plan did not include their removal, now appear in tender drawings to suggest that the 100-year-old Qadeemi Masjid in Krishi Bhawan may be affected.
The development follows a tender floated on January 19 by the Central Public Works Department (CPWD), under the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), for the construction of Common Central Secretariat (CCS) Buildings 4 and 5 at the site presently occupied by Krishi Bhawan and Shastri Bhawan, which are to be dismantled as part of the larger redevelopment exercise, according to The Indian Express.
Although the Qadeemi Masjid does not appear in the list of structures slated for removal in the bid documents, detailed architectural drawings attached to the tender reportedly do not depict the mosque at its existing location within the open courtyard of Krishi Bhawan.
The Qadeemi Masjid, which is said to be over a century old and older than the government building that surrounds it, is primarily used by Central government employees for offering prayers.
The mosque includes a designated space in its basement for women to pray, although it is not a protected monument under the Archaeological Survey of India, it finds mention in a list of Waqf properties published in the Delhi Administration’s gazette in 1970.
The Delhi Waqf Board had moved the High Court in 2021 seeking protection for six Waqf properties that it contended could be affected by the Central Vista project, including Masjid Zabta Ganj on Mansingh Road, Jama Masjid on Red Cross Road near Parliament, a mosque and a mazar on Sunehri Bagh Road, the mosque inside Krishi Bhawan, and another mosque within the premises of 6, Maulana Azad Road.
During the hearings, the government had informed the court that no action was being taken with respect to these religious structures at that stage, and it had described the redevelopment as a long-term plan that had not reached the point of impacting the mosques.
On July 22, 2024, the High Court dismissed the petition while granting liberty to the Waqf Board to approach it again if any real threat to the properties materialised. However, the Waqf Board’s term ended in 2023, and it has not since been reconstituted, and its then chairman had maintained that any move to demolish the mosques would contradict the government’s earlier assurance before the court.
The CCS 4 and 5 project, estimated to cost Rs 3,006.07 crore and to be completed within 24 months, forms part of a plan to construct 10 Common Central Secretariat buildings, of which three have already been completed, while others are under construction or in the tendering stage, thereby placing the future of the Qadeemi Masjid at the centre of a renewed controversy.