The Union government has formally told the Delhi High Court that Qadeemi Masjid, a small Waqf-notified mosque in the open courtyard of Krishi Bhawan, has to be removed. The site is being cleared for Common Central Secretariat (CCS) buildings 4 and 5, also called Kartavya Bhawan 4 and 5, a contract worth about ₹3,155 crore.
The position is set out in a status report dated October 27 and filed through the Land and Development Office (L&DO) of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. It calls the new buildings a public project of paramount national importance. It also argues that a permanent religious structure inside a central government office complex is incompatible with the secular character of government property.
At the hearing on Monday, November 2, Justice Anish Dayal did not accept that proposition at face value. He asked the Centre’s counsel to point to the rule that bars prayer space for any faith on government premises, and what such a rule would mean for alternative sites. The mosque’s caretaking committee was given time to reply.
The filing marks a sharp turn. In December 2021, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta assured the same court that the redevelopment had not come anywhere near this mosque and five other Waqf properties in the zone.
Older than the building around it
The mosque’s defenders say it predates Krishi Bhawan by decades. Its caretaking committee, represented by Senior Advocate Salman Khurshid, describes it as more than a century old, with its existence recorded in documents from at least 1945.
The government’s own paperwork reaches back further. The Centre’s status report cites a 1940 agreement under which the administration gave the managing committee of Jama Masjid permissive possession of the mosque, for use as a mosque only. That document now cuts both ways: it shows the mosque was there, and the Centre reads it as proof the land was never handed over.
| Fact | Detail |
| Location | Open courtyard of Krishi Bhawan, Plot 120, Dr Rajendra Prasad Road |
| Waqf status | Notified as Waqf property in the Delhi Administration gazette, 1970 |
| Heritage status | Not an ASI-protected monument |
| Facilities | Includes a basement space where women pray |
| Who prays there | Muslim staff of Krishi Bhawan, Shastri Bhawan and nearby ministries |
| Land owner | Government (accepted by the petitioners) |
The petitioners do not dispute that the land belongs to the government. Their case rests on long, continuous use and on a 1970 Waqf notification that the government has not, so far, challenged in court.
Two readings of a secular state
Both sides invoke the same principle and reach opposite ends. The table sets their claims side by side, issue by issue.
| Issue | The Centre (status report, Oct 27) | The mosque committee (petition, Sept) |
| Secularism | A permanent religious structure in a government office complex is impermissible | The mosque predates the complex and has served its staff since Independence |
| Land | Government owns it; the 1940 grant was permissive, for limited use | Accepts government title; relies on Waqf notification and long use |
| The project | CCS 4 and 5 are of paramount national importance | Not seeking to stall or delay the redevelopment |
| Master plan | Reserving any space would breach the approved Central Vista Master Plan | Asks authorities to examine whether the mosque can be kept in place |
| Alternative | Cannot be compelled to allot space; Shahi Masjid Zabta Ganj is within 2 km | A reasonable, proximate and adequate prayer facility if removal is unavoidable |
| Process | Removal required for execution of the work | No demolition without a fair, transparent and reasoned process |
Justice Dayal’s questions on November 2 went to that gap. If no rule bars a prayer space on government premises, the Centre’s secularism argument becomes a policy choice rather than a legal bar.
The law in play
Three bodies of law are likely to shape the outcome, and none settles it on its own.
The Supreme Court’s 2009 order on religious structures: In Union of India v. State of Gujarat, the court directed on September 29, 2009 that no new unauthorised temple, church, mosque or gurdwara be built or allowed on public streets, parks or other public places. Structures that already existed were to be reviewed case by case by each state and Union Territory, with a policy on removal, relocation or regularisation ordered in February 2010. The Centre’s argument echoes this order, but the order targets unauthorised construction. Whether a mosque held under a 1940 grant and notified as Waqf in 1970 counts as unauthorised is an open question.
The Waqf (Amendment) Act, 2025: Section 3C lets a designated officer decide whether a property claimed as Waqf is really government land. On September 15, 2025, the Supreme Court stayed key parts of that mechanism in an interim order. It held that title disputes go to the Waqf Tribunal under Section 83, and that while an inquiry runs, no one may be dispossessed and no third-party rights created. If the Centre’s ownership claim turns into a dispute over the Waqf record, that interim protection could matter.
The Centre’s own 2021 assurance. The Solicitor General’s statement was not a binding undertaking, and the Waqf Board’s petition was withdrawn in July 2024 with liberty to return if a real threat arose. But it framed the litigation for three years, and it is the reason the current filing is being read as a reversal.
One practical gap stands out: the Delhi Waqf Board, the statutory guardian of the property, has not been reconstituted since its term ended in 2023. The current case was filed by the mosque’s caretaking committee, not the Board.
Not the only one
Qadeemi Masjid is one of six Waqf properties the Delhi Waqf Board asked the High Court to protect in 2021. One has since been demolished, one faces removal, and a seventh mosque outside that list is now in court too.
| Property | Location | Latest reported status |
| Qadeemi Masjid | Krishi Bhawan courtyard | Centre seeks removal (status report, Oct 27, 2026); next hearing Nov 23 |
| Race Course Masjid (not in the 2021 six) | Race Course Club, near 7 Lok Kalyan Marg | Centre told HC on Oct 29, 2026 it will not demolish until the Waqf Board’s representation is decided; worshippers barred meanwhile; next hearing Dec 16 |
| Sunehri Bagh Masjid | Sunehri Bagh roundabout, near Udyog Bhawan | NDMC sought removal for traffic reasons in Dec 2023; referred to the Heritage Conservation Committee; decision was still pending when the HC closed the case in July 2024 |
| Mazar, Sunehri Bagh Road | Behind Motilal Nehru Marg | Demolished by NDMC while the 2021 petition was pending (reported Dec 2023) |
| Masjid Zabta Ganj | Mansingh Road, near India Gate | No removal reported; the Centre now names it as the alternative for Qadeemi worshippers |
| Jama Masjid | Red Cross Road, near Parliament | No action reported |
| Masjid at Vice President’s residence | Old VP residence, earmarked for new CCS buildings | No action reported |
The Race Course case, heard by the same judge, shows how these disputes now run: the Centre offers a pause pending a Waqf Board decision, while access to the mosque is cut. Its imam and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi have both faulted the unconstituted Board for not challenging the demolition order.
