LUCKNOW: The All India Muslim Personal Law Board (AIMPLB) has moved the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court over the demolition of the century-old Gareeb Nawaz Masjid in Barabanki, the advocate for the board said on Saturday.
The mosque in Barabanki's Ram Sanehi Ghat tehsil was pulled down on May 17 as it was an illegal residential building, the authorities had said.
"The All India Muslim Personal Law Board on Friday moved the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court over the demolition of the century-old Gareeb Nawaz Masjid in Barabanki's Ram Sanehi Ghat tehsil seeking quashing of the orders of the sub-divisional magistrate of Ram Sanehi Ghat dated April 3, 2021 ordering demolition of the mosque," Saud Rais, advocate for AIMPLB told PTI on Saturday.
A petition has also been moved by Sunni Central Waqf Board, he said.
"The petitions have sought for the following relief from the court to quash the order passed on April 3, by SDM of Ram Sanehi Ghat tehsil, to direct the local authorities to restore the mosque which has been demolished and allow the committee of management to reconstruct the mosque over the land in question, and to direct the discontinuation of the use of the place of Masjid, the waqf land and property as inaugurated as Swatantrata Sangram Samarak Bal Udhayaan' and direct removal of illegal trespass," Rais said.
He added, "The petitions also sought to direct the state of Uttar Pradesh to pay a sum of Rs 25 lakh to the petitioner for defraying expenses for reconstruction of the said mosque, and to direct the state of Uttar Pradesh to take appropriate action against the then SDM of Ram Sanehi Ghat, Barabanki."
Following the orders of the court, the old mosque located adjacent to the tehsil premises and opposite to the residence of the SDM was demolished amid heavy security by the authorities.
The mosque was registered in the records of the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board.
The AIMPLB and the UP Sunni Central Waqf Board had earlier demanded a judicial probe into the demolition.
"The century-old Garib Nawaz mosque in Ram Sanehi Ghat tehsil was demolished by the administration without any legal justification in the presence of police," AIMPLB working general secretary Maulana Khalid Saifullah Rehmani had said in a statement.
Barabanki District Magistrate (DM) Adarsh Singh, however, had said the structure was illegal, and the tehsil administration got its possession on March 18.
He said the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court had disposed of a petition filed in this connection on April 2, which proved that the construction was illegal.
The DM said a case was then filed in the court of the SDM of Ram Sanehi Ghat and its orders were complied with on May 17.