SC rejects plea seeking civilian access to mosque inside Chennai military quarters
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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a petition challenging the restriction on civilians offering prayers at a mosque located within military quarters in Chennai, observing that such access could raise security concerns.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta delivered the order while hearing an appeal against an April 2025 judgment of a Madras High Court division bench, which had upheld a single judge’s decision refusing to interfere in the matter.
The High Court had earlier noted that it could not intervene in an administrative decision taken by military authorities preventing public entry into Army premises for worship or any other purpose.
During the Supreme Court hearing, the petitioner’s counsel argued that restrictions on civilians entering Masjid-E-Aalishaan were imposed only during the Covid-19 pandemic, and that no security issues had arisen there from 1877 to 2022.
The bench, however, rejected the submission. “There are security issues and many other considerations. How can we allow that?” the judges told the counsel before dismissing the petition.
The petitioner had earlier informed the High Court that the Army authorities were not permitting civilians to offer prayers at the mosque located inside the military quarters. The High Court division bench had noted that the station commander verbally rejected the petitioner’s representation in June 2021, stating that Masjid-E-Aalishaan was primarily meant for personnel connected with the unit and not for outsiders, in accordance with the Cantonment Land Administration Rules, 1937.
“It is the prerogative of the administration to decide whether to permit outsiders or not. In the present case, relying on the Cantonment Land Administration Rules, 1937, the authority has decided against allowing outsiders,” the High Court had held while declining to interfere with the single judge’s order.
With PTI inputs