On Thursday (30th October), a district court in Himachal Pradesh’s Shimla dismissed a plea filed against Shimla Municipal Corporation’s earlier order to demolish the Sanjauli Mosque. The court upheld the Municipal Corporation’s decision and ordered the demolition of the six-storey mosque.
The plea was filed by the Waqf Board and Sanjauli Mosque Committee. In the court however, the Waqf Board failed to present any solid document regarding the mosque. Following this, the district court upheld the decision of the Municipal Corporation court.
In this case, the verdict was reserved by Additional District Judge Yajuvendra Singh on 6th October after hearing the arguments of the Municipal Corporation and the Waqf Board. The verdict was pronounced on 30th October.
Advocate Jagat Pal, who represented the Shimla Municipal Corporation told the court that the entire mosque in question is illegal and now the district court has upheld the Municipal Court’s decision. Therefore, the Shimla Municipal Corporation should immediately demolish this illegal structure to avoid further hurting the sentiments of the people of the Sanjauli area.
Notably, the dispute arose from the demolition order issued by Shimla Municipal Corporation Commissioner Bhupendra Atri on 3rd May 2025 against the Sanjauli mosque. The Municipal Corporation Commissioner also ordered the demolition of the mosque’s lower two floors. A previous order to demolish the mosque’s lower three floors was issued on 5th October last year.
The court found that the order passed by the Municipal Commissioner on October 5, 2024, was not challenged by either the Waqf Board or the Mosque Committee. An earlier appeal, filed by Najakat Hashmi Ali, had already been dismissed by the Additional District Judge on November 30, 2024. The court held that the Municipal Commissioner’s order was based on facts.
However, in a section of the order, the Commissioner held the Waqf Board solely responsible, while the construction took place at the behest of the Mosque Committee. Since the property in question is under the Waqf Board, the District Court held both jointly responsible. This decision was given while dismissing both appeals filed against the order passed by the Shimla Municipal Corporation Commissioner on 3rd May 2025.
Last year, massive protests erupted in Shimla as locals demanded demolition of the illegal mosque. Hindus took to the streets, launched massive demonstrations and observed shutdowns against these illegal constructions and demanded their demolition.
