Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The Supreme Court dismissed a petition filed by Takia Masjid challenging the land acquisition and expansion of the Mahakal temple complex in Ujjain. During the hearing on Thursday, the court stated that the petitioner was merely a worshipper, not the landowner, and therefore does not have the right (locus standi) to challenge the acquisition proceedings.
A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta observed that the acquisition notifications were not directly challenged in the petition; the objection was limited only to the compensation. In such cases, alternative statutory remedies are available under the law. The court held that when the petitioner is not the landowner or the recorded title holder, he cannot claim that the acquisition is illegal.
Senior Advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, appearing for the petitioner, told the Free Press, “The land acquisition was carried out without the mandatory social impact assessment under the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, making the entire process illegal.”
He also argued that the Madhya Pradesh High Court had wrongly assumed that the acquisition proceedings had already been finalized. However, the Supreme Court did not agree with this argument.
The apex court had earlier dismissed another petition challenging the demolition of Takia Masjid. In that case, the court had accepted the state government’s contention that the land had been acquired, compensation had been paid, and if there were any objections, statutory remedies could be pursued under the 2013 Act. The Madhya Pradesh High Court had also dismissed several petitions challenging the land acquisition related to the Mahakal Lok Phase-II project, upholding the acquisition.
