The Supreme Court today has affirmed the decision of the Madras High Court, mandating the demolition of a mosque in Chennai, deemed to have been constructed illegally without the necessary building sanctions.
The Supreme Court of India on Tuesday has upheld the Madras High Court’s decision, ordering the demolition of an unauthorized mosque in Chennai, constructed without the necessary permissions. The bench, led by Justices Surya Kant and KV Vishwanathan, emphasized that unauthorized religious structures cannot be condoned, stating,
“such unauthorised religious structures can never be a venue for preaching religion.”
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The case came to the apex court following an appeal by the Hydha Muslim Welfare Masjid-E-Hidaya and Madrasa against the Madras High Court’s order dated November 22, 2023. The High Court had previously criticized the lackadaisical approach of officials towards unauthorized constructions, with Justice J Nisha Banu noting,
“This Court has time and again been warning the official respondents to ensure that no constructions are carried on without proper planning permission. In spite of repeated orders of this Court, the official respondents seem to turn a nelson’s eye to unauthorized constructions.”
During the Supreme Court proceedings, the appellant’s Senior Advocate, S Nagamuthu, argued that the trust had purchased the land and that the mosque was not obstructing the public. However, the court found that the land had been acquired by the Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority and that the mosque was erected without any formal authorization. The bench clarified,
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“The land belonged to the government. You did not have any right to it,”
further noting,
“The petitioner is admittedly not the owner of the subject property, which vests in Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority, free from all encumbrances; the petitioner is an unauthorized occupant; the petitioner never applied to sanction building plans; the construction was raised in a totally illegal manner; the illegal construction, remained unabated despite notices being served by the CMDA Authorities on December 9, 2020.”
The Supreme Court’s decision reiterates the importance of adhering to legal frameworks and the consequences of unauthorized constructions. The apex court has granted the petitioner until May 31, 2024, to dismantle the mosque, aligning with its stance on maintaining public space sanctity and legal compliance in constructions. This ruling also echoes the Supreme Court’s previous directives, notably from the case ‘Union of India Vs State of Gujarat’ (2006), mandating the removal of all illegal religious structures from public places.
CASE DETAILS:
Case title –Masjid-e-Hidayah and Madarassa v. N Dinakaran
Appeared for the appellants –Senior Advocate S Nagamuthu and advocates MP Parthiban, Priyaranjani Nagamuthu, Shalini Mishra, R Sudhakaran, T Hari Hara Sudhan, Bilal Mansoor, Shreyas Kaushal and PVK Deivendran
