New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Tuesday directed the railways to produce the record pertaining to notices of removal pasted on two mosques at Tilak Marg and Babar Road for being “unauthorised” structures on its land.

Justice Prateek Jalan granted time to the administration to file its response to the petition by the Delhi Waqf Board.

The board has claimed that these notices were “generic” and the mosques — Masjid Takia Babbar Shah near the Railway Bridge at Tilak Marg and Masjid Bachchu Shah, also known as Bengali Market Mosque — are not unauthorised and the land does not belong to the railways.

Asking the central government counsel if he was not “surprised” at the affixation of the notices in their present form that is without specific details, Justice Jalan directed that the relevant record be also brought to the court. “I want to see how the railway administration is issuing notice without mentioning property, date,” the judge said.

The central government lawyer submitted that the notices were issued by railway authorities and “this was done after full knowledge of the concerned persons”. “Let me file an affidavit. I checked the record. Notices have been pasted after giving everyone full knowledge,” he said.

“At the request of counsel for respondent, four weeks are granted for filing counter affidavit. Interim order to continue. Respondent is directed to produce the relevant record,” the court ordered.

On July 26, the court had passed an interim order directing the railways not to take any action pursuant to its notices pasted on the two mosques.

Observing that the notices were not signed, did not mention the authority under which they were issued and could have been pasted on any structure, the court had asked the Centre’s lawyer to take instructions on whether it was issued by the railways.

“It appears that the notice is a generic notice purportedly issued by the railway administration, Northern Railways, Delhi, which calls upon the public to voluntarily remove temples/mosques/mazars from railway land within 15 days failing which they would be removed by railway administration. The said notices are unsigned, undated and do not bear out the authority under which they are issued. For the moment, no action will be taken pursuant to these notices,” it had said.

Counsel for the petitioner had submitted that on July 19 and 20, notices were found to be pasted on the mosques which have been in existence for decades and upon inquiry it was found that the same had been issued from the office of the divisional railway manager.

Apprehending action by the railways, the lawyer had urged the court to “bind the hands” of the authorities in the meantime.

The petition has said the Bengali Market Mosque was approximately 250 years old and the Tilak Marg Mosque is 400 years old and the notices affixed in their walls are liable to be quashed.

“Both the mosques are in existence since centuries and there are two duly registered agreements of 1945 between the Governor General in Council through its agent-Chief Commissioner of Delhi and the Sunni Majlis Auqaf in respect of both the mosques transferring management of those mosques to the Sunni Majlis Auqaf (petitioner’s predecessor) without any limitation as to tenure. The said document shows that the mosques were in existence and were operational in 1945 also,” the petition said.

“Through the impugned notice, the railway administration has urged that the mosque/temples/shrines be removed from their land within 15 days failure to comply with the notice will lead to action by the railway administration to reclaim the land. Thus, the very existence of the aforesaid waqf property is in jeopardy because of the unwarranted, arbitrary and unreasonable impugned action of the respondents,” added the plea.

The petition said that the two mosques cater to a large number of worshippers and are in use for five times daily compulsory prayers besides larger congregational prayers on Fridays and Eid.

“Neither the land underneath the mosques under reference belongs to the respondents nor the mosques under reference are unauthorised”, it has asserted.

The petitioner has also said that in 2023, at least seven waqf properties were demolished overnight in a “brazen display of highhandedness” and in the present case, the apprehension is that the “design is to demolish the mosques/waqf properties somehow”.

The matter would be heard next on January 30.

Raghav Chadha

New Delhi(PTI): AAP leader Raghav Chadha on Tuesday condemned DMK leader Udayanidhi Stalin’s remark on the Sanatan Dharma, and said statements made by some “small” leader from any party cannot be considered the official stand of the INDIA bloc.

“I am from Sanatan Dharma. I condemn and oppose such statements. Such kind of statements should not be made. One should stay away from making such remarks on any religion. We should respect all religions,” Chadha told PTI in an interview.

The BJP has been attacking the INDIA alliance after Stalin recently blamed the Sanatan Dharma for promoting division and discrimination among people and called for its eradication. On Tuesday, the BJP accused the INDIA bloc of having a hidden agenda to target the Sanatan Dharma for vote bank politics.

When asked about the issue, Chadha asserted, “Some leader from some party makes such remarks… it doesn’t mean it is the statement of the alliance. The alliance has been formed for raising big issues like price rise and unemployment facing the country. The statement made by some small leader, from a district in a state, is not the official stand of the alliance.”

Over two dozen Opposition parties have formed the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) to take on the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance unitedly in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

Chadha is a member of the 14-member coordination committee, which is the top decision-making body of the INDIA bloc. A meeting of the committee will be held at the residence of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar in Delhi on Wednesday.

“The meeting will have discussion on the issues that we will raise, how will we reach out to people on them, through rallies or door-to-door campaign, public rally, along with dynamics in states. All states are different and that is how we celebrate our diversity. Electoral colour is different. We will discuss it statewise,” he said.

“Every political party will have to sacrifice three things to make this alliance successful — ambition (‘mahatvakanksha), difference of opinion (mathbhed) and manbhed,” he added.

He said there could also be discussions during the INDIA bloc meeting on issues to be raised by their MPs in the upcoming special session of Parliament.

When asked about the names for the prime ministerial probables of the opposition alliance, he said the first thing is that the AAP not in the race.

“We are a loyal soldier in this alliance. We are not in the race to become PM. We have many able administrators in our alliance. We have many competent people. But can someone in NDA stand up and say they want Nitin Gadkari become PM or Amit Shah to become the prime minister? I just want to prove here that we have many able administrators. They don’t have anyone. They can only take the name of one leader,” he said.

Insisted further, he said, “The alliance will take a decision (on a prime ministerial name). Even the alliance formed in 1977 did not have a declared PM face yet they won the elections against Indira Gandhi. I see a repeat of that happening in 2024 Lok Sabha polls.”

DMK leader A Raja had also likened the Sanatan Dharma to diseases like leprosy and HIV which had social stigma attached to them.

In the recently held bypolls, results for which were announced on Friday, INDIA bloc parties won four seats — Ghosi in Uttar Pradesh, Dumri in Jharkhand, West Bengal’s Dhupguri and Kerala’s Puthuppally — while the BJP won two seats in Tripura and Bageshwar in Uttarakhand.

In the Bageshwar Assembly seat, BJP candidate Parwati Dass defeated Basant Kumar of the Congress by a margin of 2,321 votes.

“Whenever there will be fight between INDIA and NDA, INDIA will win. It will happen in 2024 also,” he said, adding that INDIA is a “formidable” alliance while NDA is a “theoretical” alliance.

The senior leader claimed that the “chemistry” and “arithmetic” of the INDIA bloc is being seen on ground and people are taking the alliance forward.

“The BJP has changed the name of the country. It shows its fear of the INDIA alliance. I want to tell them that this country and its name is not their ancestral inheritance but a country of 135 crore people. This proves that BJP does not love India or Bharat but only loves power,” he claimed.

Chadha was last week suspended from the Rajya Sabha following claims that he included the names of four House members in a proposed select committee on the Delhi services bill without their consent.

“I have submitted my reply to the Privileges Committee and they will decide,” he said.

Chadha also said that he hoped that the opposition MPs will be allowed to speak in the special session of parliament. “It is very strange that nobody knows the agenda. Only two people in BJP know it.”

Congress MLA Bharat Singh

Kota: Congress MLA Bharat Singh on Tuesday shaved his head as a mark of protest against Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot whom he accused of protecting a corrupt minister and ignoring his advice.

The incident took place four days after state Sports and Youth Affairs Minister Ashok Chandana staged a ‘dharna’ on electricity issues against his own government at Bundi district headquarters.

The Sangod MLA and his supporters also burned an effigy of Ravan on Tuesday outside his residence in the Gumanpura area in Kota city.

He shaved his head in the morning as the inaugural of Chambal Riverfront was underway with fanfare.

Singh also sent a letter to Gehlot earlier accusing him of protecting state Mining Minister Pramod Jain Bhaya, whom he referred to as ‘Bhaya.’

Singh in his letter accused Gehlot of trading off his integrity and principles to protect the minister as he “offered” him his hair to mark his capitulation.

“It is a mark of protest against the CM,” Singh told reporters.

Mumbai: Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray called on Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar here on Tuesday on the eve of the first meeting of the coordination committee of the opposition alliance INDIA.

The meeting between Thackeray and Pawar lasted for about 90 minutes and took place at the latter’s ‘Silver Oak’ residence in south Mumbai.

Talking to reporters, NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) state unit chief Jayant Patil, who was part of the meeting along with Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut, said discussions took place on the INDIA bloc’s coordination panel gathering and the current political situation in Maharashtra.

The INDIA coordination committee’s meeting will take place in New Delhi on Wednesday (September 13).

Patil said seat-sharing arrangements in Maharashtra, which sends 48 MPs to the Lok Sabha, the second highest after Uttar Pradesh, among opposition allies in the state will be concluded soon.

Thackeray, Pawar and Congress leaders Nana Patole, Balasaheb Thorat and Ashok Chavan will discuss the seat-sharing, said the former state minister.

He said the 25 seats won by the BJP or its allies in the last Lok Sabha polls will be distributed properly among the three Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) partners.

The constituents of the MVA, a Maharashtra-level arrangement between the Shiv Sena (UBT), the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) and the Congress, will soon finalize schedule for ‘Vajramuth’ (iron fist) rallies, said Patil.

All the three parties are also members of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), which has more than two dozen anti-BJP political outfits.

The first meeting of the opposition front was held in Patna in June followed by the second gathering in Bengaluru in July. The third conclave of the bloc was held nearly two weeks ago in Mumbai which led to the formation of a coordination committee.

Jaipur: Eleven people from Gujarat were killed and at least 15 injured when a trailer rammed into their bus from behind in Rajasthan’s Bharatpur district early on Wednesday, police said.

The bus was on its way from Gujarat to Mathura in Uttar Pradesh when the accident occurred around 4.30 am, they said.

The bus had halted at Antra flyover in the Lakhanpur area when the trailer rammed into it from behind. Five men and six women died on the spot, the police said.

According to the police control room, Antu, Nandram, Lallu, Bharat, Lalji, his wife Madhuben, Ambaben, Kambuben, Ramuben, Anjuben and Madhuben — the wife of one Arvind — died in the accident.

They were from Dihor in Gujarat’s Bhav Nagar.