The Allahabad High Court has ruled in a case related to the Dalmandi Road Project in Varanasi that the Places of Worship Act does not prevent the state from acquiring religious properties for public infrastructure development.
The statement comes from a bench of Justices JJ Munir and Arun Kumar ahead of dismissing a petition filed by six shopkeepers and tenants from Varanasi’s Dalmandi area who appealed to stop a road widening and beautification project linked to the Uttar Pradesh government’s Shri Kashi Vishwanath Dham Corridor.
The petitioners asked for protection against their eviction and asked the court to prevent the state from acquiring six mosques in the area. The petitioners said that the mosques had existed before August 15, 1947, and were protected under the Places of Worship Act, and their acquisition would violate the 1991 law.
The six mosques that come under the Dalmandi road widening projects are Anjuman Intezamia Masjid, Masjid Rangile Shah, Masjid Ali Raza Khan, Masjid Karimullah Baig, Masjid Nisaran, and Masjid Sangamarmar.
The petitioners also said that the project would lead to the demolition of their shops, which are their only source of livelihood.
However, rejecting the argument, the court said that the 1991 Act prohibits the conversion of the religious character of a place of worship from one faith to another; however, it does not stop the state from acquiring such properties for a genuine public purpose.
They also said that the acquisition was arbitrary and was designed to “target a particular community.”
Meanwhile, the bench said, “…The Act of 1991 prohibits the conversion of a place of worship of one religious denomination into another. It does not derogate from the State’s authority to acquire any place of religious worship for a secular and public purpose, like development of a road or augmentation of infrastructure or any similar activity,”
