NEW DELHI: The High Court on Tuesday directed the railways to produce the record pertaining to notices of removal pasted on two mosques at Tilak Marg and Babar Road for being “unauthorised” structures on its land.
Justice Prateek Jalan granted time to the administration to file its response to the petition by the Delhi Waqf Board. The board has claimed that these notices were “generic” and the mosques -- Masjid Takia Babbar Shah near the Railway Bridge at Tilak Marg and Masjid Bachchu Shah, also known as Bengali Market Mosque -- are not unauthorised and does not belong to the railways.
Asking the central government counsel if he was not “surprised” at the affixation of the notices in their present form that is without specific details, Justice Jalan directed that the relevant record be also brought to the court. “I want to see how the railway administration is issuing notice without mentioning property, date,” the judge said.
The central government lawyer submitted that the notices were issued by railway authorities and “this was done after full knowledge of the concerned persons”. “Let me file an affidavit. I checked the record. Notices have been pasted after giving everyone full knowledge,” he said.
“At the request of counsel for respondent, four weeks are granted for filing counter affidavit. Interim order to continue. Respondent is directed to produce the relevant record,” the court ordered. On July 26, the court had passed an interim order directing the railways not to take any action pursuant to its notices pasted on the two mosques.
HC junks BJP MLA’s plea seeking reconstitution of Trans-Yamuna Area Development Board
The Delhi High Court has dismissed a plea moved by BJP leader Abhay Verma seeking directions to the Delhi government to reconstitute the Trans-Yamuna Area Development Board. Refusing to entertain the PIL, a bench headed by Chief Justice Satish Chandra Sharma said that there was no reason to issue a mandamus to the government to reconstitute the board. The bench also comprising Justice Sanjeev Narula considered the Delhi government’s submission that TYABD is an administrative body and not a statutory body while dismissing the PIL. As per complainants submission, the Trans Yamuna Area Development Board was constituted in March 1994 to secure the planned growth of the area and to reduce the disparity in its development.