Akbarabadi row: MLA files appeal against demolition

Matia Mahal MLA Shoaib Iqbal, accused of raising an illegal construction on a government land near Jama Masjid, on Tuesday moved the Delhi high court to restrain the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) from demolishing the structure.

Matia Mahal MLA Shoaib Iqbal, accused of raising an illegal construction on a government land near Jama Masjid, on Tuesday moved the Delhi high court to restrain the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) from demolishing the structure.

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The court had on July 30 asked the ASI to demolish the illegal construction to ascertain if the remains of a Mughal-era Akbarabadi mosque existed at the Metro railway project site near Subhash Park in Central Delhi as claimed by Iqbal and his supporters.

The application, which is likely to come up for hearing on August 17 before a three judge-bench headed by Acting Chief Justice A K Sikri, also sought that a committee of eminent citizens be constituted to oversee the ASI work.

The MLA, in the plea filed through his lawyer MM Kashyap, also cited excerpts from various history books to drive home his point that there was an Akbarabadi Mosque built in 1650 by Mughal emperor Shahjahan's wife at the site, which was later razed by the Britishers.

"...keeping in view the historicity of the movement and the religious sanctity attached to this mosque...this is to ensure that no harm whatsoever is caused to the historic remains of the mosque," said Iqbal.

The court earlier had taken suo motu cognisance of the illegal construction of the mosque and later allowed the ASI to raze it and file a status report on its progress in the probe.