The Supreme Court has adjourned the hearing on March 13 on a 2017 Allahabad High Court ruling in 2017 to remove a mosque called Waqf Masjid from its premises for encroachment.
The Waqf Board had moved the top court in December 2018, securing a status quo order. A Supreme Court bench of Justices M R Shah and C T Ravikumar agreed to list the matter on March 13.
The high court alleged that the Waqf was registered only after the lessees, who had originally constructed no more than a ‘tin shed’, lost the case in the Supreme Court and was directed to hand over possession of the encroached land.
Senior advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing on behalf of the respondent High Court, claimed: “Originally, there was no mosque. The three lessees of the parcel of land were directed to hand over possession in the first round of litigation at the Supreme Court. That is when they created and got it registered now. The original lease was registered in 1996 and renewed in 1998. Even in the first round of litigation, no mosque was mentioned.”
Uttar Pradesh additional advocate-general Garima Prasad said it is proposed to build the advocate-general's office and the High Court's annexe to house the registry and the judges' chamber on the disputed area.
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