Krishi Bhawan mosque panel seeks clarity on fate of structure, urges preservation or alternate prayer site
Krishi Bhawan is set to be demolished soon. (Express Photo by Praveen Khanna)
The Delhi High Court on Thursday sought the Centre’s response in a plea expressing apprehension that the Qadeemi Masjid on the Krishi Bhawan premise, which is undergoing redevelopment, may be removed.
As reported by The Indian Express earlier, though the Qadeemi Masjid — situated in the open court at Krishi Bhawan that is over 100 years old — does not figure in the list of structures to be removed, it also does not appear in the map of the proposed new building in detailed drawings attached with the tender.
The mosque is not a protected monument under the Archaeological Survey of India, but figures in a list of Waqf properties, published in the Delhi Administration’s Gazette of 1970.
Justice Anish Dayal issued notice to the respondent authorities, which includes the Central government, Central Public Works Department (CPWD), North Delhi Municipal Council, as well as the Delhi Waqf Board, seeking their responses within four weeks.
The CPWD, under the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), floated a tender on January 19 for the construction of Common Central Secretariat (CCS) buildings 4 and 5, at the site of the Krishi Bhawan and Shashi Bhawan.
Qadeemi Masjid, through its caretaking committee, in a petition before the HC, is seeking that the Centre, through the MoHUA, CPWD and NDMC be restrained from demolishing or removing the mosque. In the scenario where retention of the mosque at its existing location is deemed to be “genuinely unavoidable or incompatible with the approved redevelopment”, the petitioner is seeking that a “reasonable, proximate and adequate alternative prayer facility” be provided.
Aerial view of the Kartavya Path under the Central Vista project (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)
According to the petitioner, following Independence and throughout the subsequent decades, at Qadeemi Masjid, employees of the Krishi Bhawan and the neighbouring Central government offices have been offering prayers. It has thus “become an established prayer facility for persons required to remain within or around their workplaces during working hours”.
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With no comparable mosque in the immediate vicinity for people to pray during their work hours, even as the petitioner is not seeking to “question, obstruct, delay or otherwise interfere with the Central
Vista Redevelopment Project”, it is seeking an alternative place for offering prayers.
Citing the tender documents, which does not depict the mosque at its existing location, “even though the tender/redevelopment documentation for the reconstruction of Krishi Bhawan and Shastri Bhawan does not, on its face, expressly identify the Mosque as a structure proposed to be demolished,” the petitioner has flagged an “inconsistency”.
“This apparent inconsistency creates a genuine need for the (authorities) to clarify the proposed treatment of the Mosque before any irreversible action is undertaken,” the plea has stated.
Sohini Ghosh is a Senior Correspondent at The Indian Express. Previously based in Ahmedabad covering Gujarat, she recently moved to the New Delhi bureau, where she primarily covers legal developments at the Delhi High Court Professional Profile Background: An alumna of the Asian College of Journalism (ACJ), she previously worked with ET NOW before joining The Indian Express. Core Beats: Her reporting is currently centered on the Delhi High Court, with a focus on high-profile constitutional disputes, disputes over intellectual property, criminal and civil cases, issues of human rights and regulatory law (especially in the areas of technology and healthcare). Earlier Specialty: In Gujarat, she was known for her rigorous coverage in the beats of crime, law and policy, and social justice issues, including the 2002 riot cases, 2008 serial bomb blast case, 2016 flogging of Dalits in Una, among others. She has extensively covered health in the state, including being part of the team that revealed the segregation of wards at the state’s largest government hospital on lines of faith in April 2020. With Ahmedabad being a UNESCO heritage city, she has widely covered urban development and heritage issues, including the redevelopment of the Sabarmati Ashram Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025) Her recent reporting from the Delhi High Court covers major political, constitutional, corporate, and public-interest legal battles: High-Profile Case Coverage She has extensively covered the various legal battles - including for compensation under the aegis of North East Delhi Riots Claims Commission - pertaining to the 2020 northeast Delhi riots, as well as 1984 anti-Sikh riots. She has also led coverage at the intersection of technology and governance, and its impact on the citizenry, from, and beyond courtrooms — such as the government’s stakeholder consultations for framing AI-Deepfake policy. Signature Style Sohini is recognized for her sustained reporting from courtrooms and beyond. She specialises in breaking down dense legal arguments to make legalese accessible for readers. Her transition from Gujarat to Delhi has seen her expand her coverage on regulatory, corporate and intellectual property law, while maintaining a strong commitment to human rights and lacuna in the criminal justice system. X (Twitter): @thanda_ghosh ... Read More
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