A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the Delhi High Court order refusing to direct the Delhi Development Authority from demolishing the 13th century Ashiq Allah Dargah and chillagah of Baba Farid, Bar and Bench reported.

The two monuments in Delhi’s Mehrauli area are graves of Sufi saints.

The petition was filed by Zameer Ahmed Jumlana and comes weeks after the Delhi Development Authority demolished centuries-old Akhondji mosque, Behrul Uloom madrasa and a graveyard in the Sanjay Van forest. The authority had claimed these were illegal structures.

The Delhi Development Authority, a statutory body that reports to the Union government, is responsible for planning and constructing urban projects in the national capital territory.

The petition contended that the High Court’s February 8 order fails to protect religious and non-religious structures, which are more than 800 years old, Bar and Bench reported.

In its order, the High Court had dismissed the plea saying that the right to health, the right to breathe, and the right to heritage and culture have to be harmonised and balanced, reported The Indian Express. The order had said that Mehrauli and Sanjay Van are the lungs of the national capital.

The High Court order also noted that the apprehension of “mindless demolition” expressed by the petitioners was misplaced since religious structures can be demolished only after approval from the religious committee, which is headed by Delhi’s lieutenant governor.

However, the petition in the Supreme Court contends that the January 30 demolition of the centuries-old religious structure in Sanjay Van forest was a “reckless disregard for the invaluable archaeological and historical treasures of India” and “deeply alarming”, reported Bar and Bench.

Ancient religious structures in forests cannot be treated as encroachments, the petitioners argued. They also argued that the religious structures are protected by the Places of Worship Act as well as Delhi’s heritage bye-laws.

January 30 demolition

The managing committee of the Delhi Waqf Board had moved the High Court after the Delhi Development Authority had razed the centuries-old Akhondji mosque on January 30 in an early morning demolition drive.

It had contended in its plea before that the mosque’s Imam Zakir Hussain and his family were left without a shelter as his home was also razed.

The demolition started at 5 am on January 30 and lasted for nearly 12 hours, Muzamil Salmani, a Mehrauli resident who taught modern education to the students at the madrasa, had told Scroll. There were around 25 students enrolled at the madrasa, he said.

The Delhi Development Authority had submitted that the demolition took place on the recommendations made by the Delhi government’s religious committee on January 4.

It also said that the religious committee had given the Delhi Waqf Board’s chief executive officer an opportunity to argue their side, Bar and Bench reported. However, the Waqf Board argued that the religious committee has no authority to order any demolition.

The High Court had ordered a status quo on the demolitions and had also sought a response from the Delhi Development Authority explaining why it carried out the action.

Also read: ‘They want to erase our history’: A Delhi neighbourhood mourns the demolition of a mosque