Delhi HC refuses to restore water, power connections of Race Course Masjid

The Delhi High Court, on October 15, refused to restore electricity and water connections to Race Course Masjid, a Waqf-notified property and a Grade II heritage structure notified in 2009, after the utilities were disconnected on October 7.

The masjid is located inside the Race Course Club. The club, spread over around 53 acres near the Prime Minister’s residence at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg, and the slums around it are facing eviction following multiple rounds of litigation. The Centre has cited “national security” to justify taking possession of the area.

However, sources in the Government said on Thursday that no eviction notice had been sent to the mosque.

The masjid’s imam, Mohd Haroon, who lives in a ‘hujra’ on the premises, moved HC on October 12 after the utility connections were disconnected.

On October 8, the Delhi Waqf Board had written to the NDMC executive engineer seeking the restoration of the utilities, stating that the same had been disconnected without “any prior notice or apparent valid reason” despite all dues being paid. The Board also said the connections had been in place lawfully for decades.

On October 15, NDMC refused to restore the utilities. It said that “since demolition work is still going on” in the area, which involves demolition of the jhuggi structures, “and there is an element of public harm involved, the electricity connection cannot be restored”.

Also, according to NNDMC, the Land and Development Office (L&DO), the authority overseeing the demolition and set to take possession of the land, had not been made a party to the petition.

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While the masjid was not a party to the litigation concerning the eviction of around 700 slum dwellers and the Race Course Club, the NDMC’s counsel orally told the court that the masjid’s premises were “covered” by a HC judgment dated August 25.

The August judgment had paved the way for the eviction of slum dwellers living near the Prime Minister’s residence on Race Course Road. They have since been rehabilitated in Savda Ghevra, nearly 50 km away.

Justice Saurabh Banerjee dismissed the imam’s petition on October 15, citing the NDMC’s submissions and other factors. The court noted that the Waqf Board, described as the “original occupant” of the premises, had not challenged the disconnection of electricity. It also observed that Haroon, as an imam appointed by the Board, had no right to the premises and thus could not claim a violation of his fundamental rights on account of the disconnection.

The Delhi Waqf Board has not been reconstituted since its elected body’s tenure lapsed in August 2023. Bureaucrats appointed by the Lieutenant Governor took charge of the Board in January 2024 and have continued to run it in the absence of an elected body.

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In its order, the court said the petition raised “serious disputed question of facts”, particularly concerning the petitioner’s right, title or interest in the premises and whether the property fell outside the scope of the August 25 judgment.

“All these are way beyond the scope for this court to adjudicate in the present writ petition,” the court recorded in its order while dismissing the plea.