Petition Filed In Supreme Court Against Demolition Of ‘Religious Structures’

The Supreme Court has received a petition asking for the preservation of religious structures in Mehrauli, Delhi. The petition expressly asks the top court to provide guidelines for the preservation of these ancient religious buildings, such as Baba Farid’s Chillagah in Mehrauli and the 13th-century Ashiq Allah Dargah (1317 AD).

High Court’s order challenged in Supreme Court

In the Supreme Court, the petitioner contested the Delhi High Court’s order from February 8 in this regard. The High Court declined to include specific guidelines for the preservation of religious buildings in its order. After taking note of the authorities’ undertaking, the High Court decided to dismiss the petition. There was an agreement made that no national or protected monument designated by federal, state, or local government would be destroyed.

Remarks from High court

In its ruling, the High Court made additional remarks regarding unlawful encroachment. The need to strike a balance between the rights to inheritance and breathing was another point raised by the court.
A request to prevent the demolition of the ancient heritage was made in the petition that was submitted to the High Court. There was concern that the Mehrauli Dargah and Chillagah might be the next structures to be demolished. Formerly, the 600-year-old mosque Akhonji in the vicinity was demolished by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA). In addition, the area’s numerous graves and Madrasa Bahrul Uloom have been demolished.

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Petition to stop demolition of religious structures filed

A man by the name of Zameer Ahmed Jumlana has petitioned the Supreme Court to stop the demolition of all of these historic buildings, contesting the High Court’s decision. Talha Abdul Rehman was the person who filed this petition. The appeal court has been asked to uphold the protection of all these historical buildings by presenting all these arguments in the petition. The petitioner presented arguments in court arguing that each of these has religious significance and cultural uniqueness that have endured for many centuries. None of this should be interpreted as encroaching on public territory.

The petitioner further contended that, in accordance with the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958, ancient monuments and heritage sites ought to be granted legal protection. Severe concern has also been voiced in the petition regarding the willful destruction of places of worship, such as tombs and mosques.