New Delhi: The Supreme Court today refused to entertain a petition for rebuilding religious structures allegedly torn down during the demolition of the Telangana secretariat.
A two judge bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan and R. Subhash Reddy while allowing the petitioner to withdraw the petition, said: “It is a misconceived prayer. We can’t allow all this under Art 32.”
The petition filed by advocate Khaja Aijazuddin alleged that two mosques and one temple were damaged during the demolition of the secretariat building.
The petitioner contended that the damage of religious buildings which had existed since a long time amounts to deprivation of citizens’ fundamental rights enshrined under Articles 14, 21, 25 and 26 of the Indian constitution.
The petitioner has further submitted that the state is duty bound to preserve religious structures and to restore them at the place where it existed.
The petition further stated that though the government has come out with a new plan for the construction of the new secretariat building, however nothing has been mentioned about restoration of the temple and mosque damaged during the demolition process.
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The petitioner, thus, urged the court to term the demolition of the religious places as highly unwarranted, illegal and unconstitutional and direct the state to preserve the religious structures in accordance with law.
– India Legal Bureau