Sanjauli mosque unauthorised: Court gives demolition orders

MC commissioner's court order comes as Waqf Board, mosque committee unable to present land ownership records

- Shailee Dogra

SHIMLA: The municipal corporation court in Shimla on Saturday declared the entire mosque in Sanjauli area unauthorised and ordered the demolition of the five-floor structure.

MC commissioner Bhupender Kumar Attri ruled that the mosque had been built without necessary permissions, including a building permit, a no-objection certificate and a sanctioned map, in violation of rules.

He ordered the demolition of the lower two floors as well, in addition to the three floors that were ordered to be demolished in October last year.

This puts to rest the case that had been heard more than 50 times in the MC commissioner's court over the past 15 years. The detailed copy of the order was awaited.

The order comes after the Waqf Board was not able to present the papers of ownership of the mosque land. The mosque committee could not provide the map of the structure or the no-objection certificate (NOC), though the Waqf Board kept claiming ownership of the land for over a decade.