The Shimla Municipal Commissioner Court on Saturday ordered the demolition of the top three floors of a mosque in the district’s Sanjauli area, said the lawyer representing the Waqf Board in the case, reported ANI.

Since early September, Hindutva organisations have been demanding the demolition of portions of the mosque that they claim was constructed illegally.

Tensions regarding the mosque were triggered by a fight between two shopkeepers from different communities and also led to Hindutva groups demanding mandatory registration of migrant workers.

On September 11, a demonstration against the mosque turned violent after protestors who were marching towards the structure clashed with the police. Around 10 persons, including police personnel and women, were injured in the clashes, PTI reported.

On Saturday, Waqf Board’s lawyer BS Thakur said that the municipal court had given two months to the mosque committee to “demolish the top three floors of the mosque at their own cost”.

“In due course, decision will be taken about the rest of the portion of the building,” said Thakur. “The next date of hearing is December 21. The mosque committee has given the undertaking to demolish the top three floors.”

The matter of the authorised construction sparked a row in the Himachal Pradesh Assembly on September 4 when state minister Anirudh Singh and his Congress colleague Harish Janartha argued about the mosque. The Congress is the ruling party in the state.

On September 7, the Himachal Waqf Board told the court that the mosque was its property and that the dispute was about the construction of additional floors.

A Muslim welfare committee had on September 12 urged the municipal commissioner to seal the unauthorised portion. “We have sought permission from the Shimla municipal commissioner to demolish the unauthorised part of the mosque situated in Sanjauli,” said Mufti Mohammad Shafi Kasmi, a member of the welfare committee.