Petition filed against CM

A petition was filed in the Delhi high court on Saturday, demanding contempt of court action against chief minister Sheila Dikshit for “inaction” following alleged re-encroachment of the land after the DDA razed an illegal mosque in Jangpura and construction of a new structure. Harish V Nair reports.

A petition was filed in the Delhi high court on Saturday, demanding contempt of court action against chief minister Sheila Dikshit for “inaction” following alleged re-encroachment of the land after the DDA razed an illegal mosque in Jangpura and construction of a new structure.

HT Image

Residents’ Welfare Association (RWA) of Jangpura also dragged to court Shahi Imam of Jama Masjid Syed Ahmed Bukhari, Shoiab Iqbal the MLA of the Matia Mahal constituency and Asif Mohd Khan, MLA of the Okhla area for allegedly instigating people to trespass and offer prayers in the cordoned off area.

The petition is set to come up for hearing on Monday. It accuses all the parties of "willfully violating the order of the court", "interfering with the due course of judicial process", and "bringing disrepute to the honour of the court" by their "actions".

RWA’s lawyer RK Saini contended that it was the duty of the authorities to ensure that the reclaimed area was fenced properly and re-encroachment was not allowed. Saini said policemen present in large numbers also failed in prevent the re-encroachment.

The RWA told the court: “The unruly mob broke the boundary wall erected by the DDA after it reclaimed the land, shouted slogans like 'Hindustan Murdabad, Pakistan Zindabad'.

It was like the inaction was as per the order from higher ups and there was a clear direction not to resist and allow the mob to do whatever they wanted to do.”