Allahabad HC refuses to stay bulldozer action on Sambhal mosque

LUCKNOW: The Allahabad High Court, on Saturday, refused to stay the bulldozer action on a mosque, a marriage hall, and a hospital allegedly built on government land in Sambhal, dismissing the petition filed by the Muslim party. This mosque was built on a pond. The single-judge Bench of Justice Dinesh Pathak heard the plea moved by Masjid Sharif Gausul Wara Rawa Buzurg and its Mutawalli Minjar. According to the sources in the district administration, the mosque was built in Rayan Buzurg village of the Asmoli area, 30 km away from the Sambhal district headquarters. After hearing arguments from both sides, the court disposed of the petition and directed the mosque committee to approach the competent lower court with a stay application. On October 2, the team of district administration officials, led by DM-SP, arrived with a bulldozer to demolish the mosque. The administration had demolished the marriage hall built next to the mosque on Thursday. When the bulldozer was heading towards the mosque for demolition, local people requested the DM for 4 days with a promise to do away with the mosque themselves. The DM had given four days ' time. After this, on the same day, that is Thursday, local people had started breaking the outer wall of the mosque. On Friday, after prayers, some people had voluntarily demolished the boundary wall of the mosque. On Friday, the mosque's Mutawalli, Minjar Hussain had filed a petition in Allahabad High Court seeking a stay on the bulldozer action on the mosque. A special bench of Justice Dinesh Pathak heard the matter on Friday. The Court is, currently, sitting in vacation since September 29. The mosque management had challenged an order dated September 2, 2025, passed by the competent authority in proceedings under Section 67 of the UP Revenue Code, 2006. The petition was heard in court for about an hour and a quarter on Friday. The writ petition also questioned all proceedings initiated against the mosque, including the notice dated June 26, 2025, an undated show-cause notice, the unserved order dated September 2, 2025 and the demolition notice dated September 30, 2025. The Muslim party contended in the petition that the marriage hall was demolished, and October 2nd, Gandhi Jayanti and Dussehra were chosen for the demolition so that the action could be taken smoothly without objection. During the bulldozer action, a major accident or riot could have occurred due to the crowd. The allegation behind this action was that the marriage hall was built on pond, while a portion of the mosque was built on government land. According to Tehsildar Dhirendra Pratap Singh, the mosque, spread over 550 square feet area, was constructed 10 years ago. A person named Minjar from the village had got it constructed. Minjar is also the maulana (cleric) of the mosque. The mosque was discovered during the survey being conducted regarding illegal encroachments in the district. Legal proceedings were initiated after this. On Friday, the Court questioned the petitioners' counsel regarding the availability of the impugned September 2, 2025, order. Advocates Arvind Kumar Tripathi and Shashank Shri Tripathi represented the mosque committee, while Chief Standing Counsel JN Maurya and Standing Counsel Ashish Mohan Srivastava appeared for the government during the hearing on Saturday. The counsel stated that the order had not been served upon them. However, the Court noted that the objection dated July 4, 2025, prima facie showed that the petitioners had participated in proceedings under Section 67 of the UP Revenue Code. At this stage, the Chief Standing Counsel produced a photostat copy of the impugned order, which was then served on the petitioners' counsel.