The Supreme Court has commented on the matter related to Waqf on Friday. The court said that in the absence of any evidence of the offering or the user, a dilapidated wall or platform cannot be given the status of a religious place for the purpose of offering prayers.

A bench of Justices Hemant Gupta and V. Ramasubramanian said that the structure was not being used as a mosque. It states that there is no evidence of offering or user or grant, which may be called a waqf within the meaning of the Waqf Act.

‘The platform cannot be accorded the status of a religious site’, the bench said. Or a platform cannot be given the status of a religious place.”

The bench dismissed the appeal filed by the Rajasthan Waqf Board challenging an order of the Rajasthan High Court. The court said it directs not to interfere with the proceedings of Jindal Saw Limited and others, which are part of the structure built in Khasra No. 6731 in Pur village of Bhilwara district. The firm was given a lease of 1,556.7817 hectares in 2010 for mining gold, silver, lead, zinc, copper, iron, cobalt, nickel and related minerals near village Dedwas in Bhilwara.

“The report of the experts is relevant only to the extent that the structure has no archaeological or historical importance. In the absence of any proof of dedication or user, a dilapidated wall or a platform cannot be conferred a status of a religious place for the purpose of offering prayers/namaaz,” it said, while dismissing appeals filed by the Rajasthan Waqf Board challenging an order of the Rajasthan High Court directing it not to interfere with the action of Jindal Saw Ltd and others in removal of the structure forming part of Khasra No. 6731 at village Pur in Bhilwara district.

Bhilwara district.

 

In 2010, the firm was granted lease of an area measuring 1,556.7817 hectares for the mining of gold, silver, lead, zinc, copper, iron, cobalt, nickel and associated minerals near village Dhedwas in Bhilwara. In 2012, the Anjuman Committee addressed a letter to the Chairman of the Waqf Board stating there is a wall and chabutra (platform) on a ‘Tiranga Ki Qalandari Masjid’ where in olden times, labuorers used to offer prayers. However, the elders in the community said they have not seen anybody praying namaz, nor there is access to water and stairs to reach the platform. The Waqf Board, however, said the area should be saved from mining and the high court constituted a committee of experts to examine the issue. The committee, in its report submitted on January 10, 2021, said the dilapidated structure existing at Khasra No 6731 is neither a mosque nor any structure with archaeological or historical relevance.

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