The Apex Court on Wednesday (4th June) dismissed an appeal filed by Delhi Waqf Board claiming possession of a Gurudwara. The Waqf Board had appealed to the Supreme Court against an order of Delhi High Court which rejected its plea in 2010.
A bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and Satish Chandra Sharma, dismissed the Waqf Board’s appeal and said that the Waqf Board should voluntarily renounce its claim over the Gurudwara. Arguing for the Waqf Board, Senior Advocate Sanjoy Ghose, submitted before the Supreme Court that the lower courts had held that the premises were a mosque but “now some kind of Gurudwara is there”.
“Not some kind of. A proper functioning Gurudwara. Once there is a Gurudwara let it be. A religious structure is already functioning there. You should yourself relinquish that claim you see,” said the Supreme Court dismissing the appeal.
The Waqf Board contended that the premises in question was actually a mosque in Shahadara named “Masjid Takia Babbar Shah” which existed since time immemorial. The defendant, on the other hand, argued that the property was not a Waqf property and that he bought it from one Mohd Ahsaan in 1953.
Earlier, the Delhi High Court had passed an order in favour of the Gurudwara saying, “Defendant was admittedly in occupation of this property since 1947-48. It is also true that the defendant was not able to adduce any document of title to evidence the purchase of this property, yet this does not in any manner benefit the plaintiff who has to establish his own case and prove it to enable him to obtain a decree of possession.”
