Allahabad High Court Dismisses Sambhal Mosque Committee’s Plea Against Demolition, Directs Lower Court Approach

Allahabad: The Allahabad High Court on Saturday rejected an urgent petition filed by the Sambhal mosque committee seeking a stay on the demolition of a mosque, marriage hall, and hospital allegedly built on government land.

The single-judge Bench of Justice Dinesh Pathak heard the plea filed by Masjid Sharif Gausul Wara Rawa Buzurg and its Mutawalli, Minjar. After considering arguments from both sides, the court disposed of the petition, instructing the mosque committee to approach the competent lower court for a stay application.

The petitioners had challenged a September 2 order under Section 67 of the Uttar Pradesh Revenue Code, 2006, claiming that demolition on Gandhi Jayanti and Dussehra could lead to law-and-order issues. They argued that the marriage hall, already demolished on October 2 with four bulldozers, was constructed on pond land.

Ahead of the administration’s four-day notice period, members of the mosque committee reportedly began dismantling sections of the wall themselves. On Dussehra day, the Sambhal district administration conducted a major demolition drive against illegal encroachments, targeting a marriage hall built on government land in Rawa Buzurg village. The operation was heavily secured, with nearly 200 police and Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) personnel deployed, and drones monitoring the exercise in real time.

During the last hearing on Friday, the High Court had directed the petitioners to submit relevant land records. Parties named in the petition included the state government, District Magistrate, Superintendent of Police Sambhal, ADM, Tehsildar, and Gram Sabha.

The mosque committee was represented by advocates Arvind Kumar Tripathi and Shashank Shri Tripathi, while the government appeared through Chief Standing Counsel J.N. Maurya and Standing Counsel Ashish Mohan Srivastava.