The Rajasthan High Court on Monday dismissed petitions challenging the proposed demolition of several mosques, dargahs and madrasas located within 50 kms of the India-Pakistan border, Bar and Bench reported.

The bench was quoted as having observed that the Union government’s decision to enhance the territorial jurisdiction and operational powers of the Border Security Force showed a well-calibrated approach to address security challenges, Live Law reported.

As the structures were near the border, there was a need for heightened vigilance and regulatory oversight, the bench added.

The court said the “attempt to attribute communal colour” to the demolitions was misplaced, Bar and Bench reported.

Justice Sameer Jain said that the matter was related to “national security and regulatory compliance”, and not religious discrimination.

Based on the material placed before the court, the judge observed that the structures proposed to be demolished were prima facie unauthorised.

The petitioners had been issued show-cause notices and that they had not participated in the process, the court observed. Therefore, the petitioners “cannot now be permitted to invoke writ jurisdiction” on the grounds of violation of natural justice, the bench said.

“...it is a thought deeply ingrained in the consciousness of every citizen of this nation that when the security of the state is at stake, the rigidity of procedure must yield to the imperative necessity of protection,” the court said.

The demolition of several mosques and dargahs in Rajasthan, among other states, had sparked a political row in June, with Opposition leaders alleging that Muslim places of worship were being targeted.

All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief Asaduddin Owaisi said on June 21 that he had been informed by his party’s Bikaner unit that four mosques in the district had been demolished. Nine mosques and dargahs in Phalodi, Jaisalmer and Barmer had also been demolished, he added. All three districts are along the border with Pakistan.

Opposition leaders, including Owaisi and the Congress’ Ashok Gehlot, alleged that the demolitions disproportionately target Muslim religious sites.

Owaisi had claimed on social media that notices have been issued to hundreds of other religious sites, including the 250-year-old shrine of Hazrat Mahmood Shah Jilani in Jaisalmer.

Gehlot had accused the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Rajasthan of targeting “historical religious sites that are several decades old” as part of “this coercive action”.

Edited by Neerad Pandharipande.