'Incompatible with secular character': Centre tells Delhi HC mosque inside Krishi Bhawan must be demolished

NewsIndia News'Incompatible with secular character': Centre tells Delhi HC mosque inside Krishi Bhawan must be demolished 'Incompatible with secular character': Centre tells Delhi HC mosque inside Krishi Bhawan must be demolished Edited by Rohitashwa Ranjan / TIMESOFINDIA.COM / Updated: Nov 03, 2026, 16:14 IST The Centre has relied on an agreement dated November 8, 1940, executed between the then government, as the owner of the property, and the secretary of the managing committee of Jama Masjid.Under the agreement, the government had granted permissive possession of the premises to the committee exclusively for use as a mosque.The agreement also imposed several restrictions on the use and modification of the property, prohibiting the managing committee from making alterations, undertaking repairs to the existing buildings, constructing graves or raising any new structure, even temporarily, without obtaining prior written approval from the government.Mosque required to be removed for execution of Central Vista projectThe Centre said the removal of the structure was necessary as the Central Vista Redevelopment Master Plan provides for the redevelopment and reconstruction of Common Central Secretariat Buildings 4 and 5 at Plot No.

120, covering the existing sites of Shastri Bhawan and Krishi Bhawan.According to the status report, the proposed project is aimed at modernising infrastructure considered essential for the country's governance and administrative functioning.

The government has asserted that the mosque presently stands within the identified project site and is required to be removed for the execution of the proposed construction.Describing the construction of CCS Buildings 4 and 5 as a public project of paramount national importance, the Centre also argued that retaining the mosque or reserving any portion of the project site for the religious structure would be inconsistent with the redevelopment master plan.The L&DO has further argued that public land situated in a central administrative zone cannot be permanently reserved for a religious structure.Based on these submissions, the Centre has maintained that the managing committee cannot claim a right to compel the government to allot or earmark a separate portion of land for the mosque within the Krishi Bhawan compound or the Central Secretariat complex.The government has also disputed any violation of the fundamental right to freedom of religion guaranteed under Article 25 of the Constitution.It has submitted that the constitutional provision does not confer a right to insist on worship at a particular place on government land held under a permissive arrangement.The government's response comes in reply to a petition filed by Qadeemi Masjid through its caretaking committee, challenging the proposed action concerning the religious structure.Join conversation InsightfulAgreeDisagreeSkepticalConcerningPromisingWorth ReadingBig Development The petition further states that the Delhi Waqf Board notified the property as Waqf property in 1970 and recorded its antiquity.The petitioners claimed that even after Krishi Bhawan, Shastri Bhawan and surrounding government offices were constructed in the 1950s and 1960s, the mosque continued to exist and was used by Muslim employees of the offices for offering prayers.The petitioners acknowledged that the land underneath the mosque is government property but expressed apprehension over the ongoing redevelopment, which involves dismantling the existing complex.They maintained that they have no objection to the Central Vista redevelopment project and are not seeking a suspension or delay in the construction of the Common Central Secretariat buildings.

Get the latest India News and Live updates. Download the TOI app. Rohitashwa Ranjan is a digital journalist with The Times of India, where he decodes Indian politics as a carefully staged production with scripts, subtext and everything behind.

His stories track elections, party dynamics and the things that often are buried beneath the headlines. When not parsing vote shares or alliances, he is usually reading between the lines, where the real story tends to reside.

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