New Delhi (ILNS): The Delhi High Court has ordered Delhi Police to remove the barricades in vicinity to the 130-year-old mosque located at Basant Nagar on Rao Tula Ram Marg, so that those visiting the place to offer namaaz do not have to face troubles.
The court has directed Police to ensure that if there is any checking of vehicles which is required, adequate number of constables are posted on the site so as to carry out the checking, either 10 metres before the vehicles enter the mosque or 10 metres after the gate of the mosque, without impeding the devotees from entering the Mosque.
A single-judge bench of Justice Pratibha M. Singh gave the order after looking at the photograph presented by the police and Google Earth image in the case. The court also observed that after going through the photographs which have been placed on record, there seem to be some variance between reality and the version being given by the police. The court was showed through the Google Earth image that the zigzag barricading has been designed so as to ensure that each and every vehicle entering the Mosque can be checked, however, the photographs placed by the police show that the barricades are beyond the entrance of the Mosque.
After considering all the facts, the High Court has asked the police to ensure that the barricades are erected on the road at least 10 meters prior to the entrance of the Mosque or ahead of the entrance of the Mosque, so as to ensure that in front of the Mosque there is no obstruction for the devotees, to enter through the gate of the mosque.
The order also said:
“The administration of the Mosque shall ensure that in the shops being run outside, there is no gathering of a crowd which would create any obstruction to the commuters using the road, which is stated to be the exit from Vasant Vihar towards Gurgaon.”
The High Court has given this order on a petition filed by advocate Janak Raj Rana on behalf of Jafar. The petition states that there is a 130-year-old mosque located at Basant Nagar on Rao Tula Ram Marg and the police have started barricading the mosque gate from November 2019 which has caused inconvenience to the people.
The Delhi Police has submitted before the Court that barricading is not obstructing the entrance to the mosque. Simultaneously, the police said that there are two shops which are run by the Mosque Management Committee and the revenue from these shops is used to manage the Mosque.
The police further stated that PCR calls from this stretch of Rao Tula Ram Marg have been received and incidents of snatching, robberies and accidents were reported. The barricades were put after it was found that the traffic which comes out from Vasant Vihar going to Gurgaon was exiting Vasant Vihar without any checking. A picket has also been put up by the police about 10 meters from the entrance of the Mosque, said the police. The police further gave the court an assurance that the barricades would not, in any manner, result in creating any obstruction for devotees to perform prayers in the Mosque.