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SC junks plea seeking permission for Urs on demolished dargah land in Gir Somnath
SG Tushar Mehta told the court that a similar request, received from Hindus for religious rituals on the said land, was turned down.
The Supreme Court on Friday refused to allow the Muslim festival of Urs to be conducted at the site of a demolished dargah in Gujarat’s Gir Somnath district after being convinced that the dargah stood on government land and was demolished as part of an extensive drive by the state against encroachment, which also included Hindu temples.
A bench headed by justice Bhushan R Gavai dismissed the application moved by Haji Mangroli Shah dargah, which claimed that though the dargah had been demolished, ancestors of the local Muslim population were buried in the land and rituals needed to be performed for them.
Dismissing the plea, the bench, also comprising justice Augustine George Masih, noted the submissions of the Gujarat government denying any discrimination on religious ground. The application was moved in a contempt petition moved by Samast Patni Muslim Jamat.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the state, submitted that the land is vacant and there was no question of anybody being allowed to conduct rituals when the dargah no longer exists. Further, he told the court that a similar request, received from Hindus for religious rituals on the said land, was turned down.
“We do not feel the application needs to be entertained,” the bench said. Mehta assured the court that the land is still with the government and is not being given to any third party. The Urs was to be held from February 1-3.
Arguing for the petitioner, senior advocate IH Syed told the court that the dargah holds historical significance for the local population as it is an ancient monument. The court informed him that the Gujarat high court had refused to order a status quo on the demolitions that took place in September last year. Appeals are pending before the top court against that order.
Mehta told the court that the appeals pending in SC were against an interim order passed by high court. The main petition filed by the members of the Muslim community is still pending there where pleadings from both sides are complete.
Syed requested the court that if the administration feels there is a threat to law and order, it may permit only 20 persons to enter the land and offer rituals by burning incense and offering prayers. “The whole graveyard is there. It is a matter of people’s faith. We must be allowed to perform the rituals.”
“There is no structure that exists now. All that will have to be decided in the main matter which is pending,” the bench reminded Syed.
Mehta said the claims of the petitioners are not borne out of the records as the land was allotted to Somnath Trust in 1951. “What we have demolished we are ready to tell the court. Across religions, whatever was unauthorised, we have removed. Out of the demolished structures, there is a significant number of properties belonging to Hindu community.”
The contempt petition in which the application was moved had alleged violation of a September 17, 2024, order of the top court which said that any instance of illegal demolition was against the ethos of the Constitution. It ordered a stop on any illegal demolition, while clarifying that its order will not apply to unauthorised structures which are on public roads, footpaths, or abutting railway lines and water bodies.
In an affidavit filed last year, the state government justified the demolition claiming that the site was undisputedly government land and the structures in question were unauthorised.
In November last year, the top court issued pan-India guidelines specifying that no property shall be demolished without a prior show cause notice providing 15 days’ time for the concerned property owner to respond. The guidelines further specified the contents of the show cause notice, provision for personal hearing, and the need for demolition, if any, to be recorded on video.
