‘Incompatible with secular character’: Centre says Krishi Bhawan mosque to be removed

The Central Government has told the Delhi High Court that it plans to “remove” a century-old mosque on the premises of Krishi Bhawan. It said that retaining the structure within the office complex is “impermissible and incompatible with the secular character of Government property”.

The submission marks the first clear acknowledgement by the Government that the mosque is set to be removed from the site as Krishi Bhawan and adjoining Shastri Bhawan are slated to be demolished to make way for new buildings under the Central Vista redevelopment plan.

Earlier, in December 2021, in a plea by Delhi Waqf Board before the Delhi High Court seeking protection of six mosques likely to be affected by the project, including the Qadeemi Masjid situated in the open court in Krishi Bhawan, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta had told the court: “Nothing is happening to these properties. We are before your lordships. It (the project) is a very long plan and we have not reached anywhere near it.”

On Monday, noting the Government’s latest stance, the Delhi High Court sought to know whether there are rules that bar religious structures within the premises of Government complexes.

Justice Anish Dayal said: “What we need to understand is, what are the rules for providing an alternate space? Are you saying no (alternate) spaces are to be provided for (any) faith?..There has to be some rules to say that ‘in no government space can be a space for prayer to provide for any community’. This is just an observation we are making. You can communicate to the ASG….We are curious to understand the stance you have taken. If that is the stance, then there must be some rules…”

Addressing the Centre’s counsel Nishant Gautam, Justice Dayal also said: “Once we understand what is really the conspectus (implication) of that statement (of religious structure being impermissible in a central government complex) and the impact it has, we can understand the legal position.”

The court granted time to the Masjid’s committee to respond to the Government’s submission by the next date of hearing on November 23.

Story continues below this ad

The caretaking committee of Waqf-notified Qadeemi Masjid had moved the court in September, apprehending demolition. The apprehension arose after a tender was floated by the Central Public Works Department (CPWD), under the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), on January 19 for construction of Common Central Secretariat (CCS) buildings 4 and 5, at the site of Krishi Bhawan and Shastri Bhawan.

The Indian Express reported in February that while the mosque did not figure in the list of structures to be removed, it also did not appear at its site on the map of the proposed new building in drawings attached to the tender for the redevelopment.

Stating that the construction of the two CCS buildings is “a public project of paramount national importance”, the Land and Development Office under MoHUA said in a status report on October 27, “The mosque in question presently stands on the project site and is required to be removed” for the execution of the project.

“Krishi Bhawan and the Central Secretariat complex are secular public premises, dedicated exclusively to governmental, administrative and public service functions. The establishment or retention of a permanent religious structure, or a demand for one, within the confines of a central government office complex is impermissible and incompatible with the secular character of Government property. That the public land situated within a central administrative zone cannot be encumbered by any permanent religious reservation,” the Government stated.

Story continues below this ad

The Government said that “reserving any portion of the project site for a religious structure would be inconsistent with the Master Plan” for the Central Vista Redevelopment project. In an agreement in 1940, the administration had granted permissive possession of the mosque to the managing committee of Jama Masjid “for the limited purpose of its use as a mosque.”

While the mosque’s committee, in its plea, is seeking that CPWD and NDMC be restrained from demolishing or removing the mosque, it is also seeking that, in case retention of the Qadeemi Masjid at its existing location is “genuinely unavoidable or incompatible with the approved redevelopment”, a “reasonable, proximate and adequate alternative prayer facility” be provided.

The Government has said that, being the owner of the land, it “cannot be compelled to allot or set apart any separate space for the said mosque within the Krishi Bhawan compound or the Central Secretariat complex.”

As per the masjid’s committee, following Independence and through subsequent decades, Qadeemi Masjid has been used as a place for offering prayers by employees working in Krishi Bhawan and the neighbouring Central Government offices, and has thus “become an established prayer facility for persons required to remain within or around their workplaces during working hours.”

Story continues below this ad

The Centre contended that another mosque — Shahi Masjid Zabta Ganj, at India Gate — is located within a two-kilometre radius from the Krishi Bhawan vicinity “and is fully functional to serve as a proximate prayer facility for any individuals seeking one nearby”.