Amid Wagf hearing in SC, a 400-year-old mosque near Delhi HC finds itself in the spotlight

On April 16, while hearing petitions challenging the amended Wagf Act, Chief Justice of India Sanjeev Khanna, who served as a judge at the Delhi High Court for 14 years, remarked in the context of waqf-by-user cases, “When we were in (the) Delhi High Court, we were told that the High Court itself is built on Waqf land."

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The mosque in question — built during Sher Shah Suri's reign in Delhi and located between Gates 4 and 5 of the Delhi High Court on Sher Shah Road — has been the subject of at least two petitions, one seeking its demolition and the other asking for construction activity on the premises to be halted.Between 2013 and 2015, multiple petitions were filed in court related to the mosque. Between 2013 and 2015, multiple petitions were filed in court related to the mosque. (Photo by Sohini Ghosh)The court's orders, records submitted by the government and Delhi Waqf Board documents, however, show that only the 0.12 acres on which the 400-year-old mosque stands — not the larger court premises — has been recorded as Waqf property. The second of the two petitions against the mosque was filed in 2015, by one Ajay Gautam, who sought the mosque’s demolition on two grounds: one, that a court's precincts cannot be used for religious purposes and two, over the alleged entry of outsiders to the court premises to offer prayers at the structure. At present, those on the High Court premises, including lawyers, court staff and litigants, offer prayers at the mosque.Gautam, who claims to be a social activist, told The Indian Express, “All kinds of illegal activities, like encroachment, begging, etc., were going on along Sher Shah Road. It was a matter of security for all."A Delhi Gazette notification, dated December 10, 1969, mentions the mosque on the Delhi High Court premises. A Delhi Gazette notification, dated December 10, 1969, mentions the mosque on the Delhi High Court premises.In March 2015, a Division Bench of Justices Pradeep Nandrajog and Pratibha Rani directed