The Delhi High Court on Thursday directed the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) not to take any coercive action against the Shahi Idgah Managing Committee over the alleged unauthorised use of a park in Sadar Bazar for a religious gathering held in December 2024.
Justice Vikas Mahajan issued notice to the DDA on the committee’s petition and asked the authority to respond. The court noted that the Waqf Tribunal—where the committee has already instituted a suit against the DDA’s claim over the land—is currently non-functional due to lack of quorum.
“In the meantime, having regard to the fact that the waqf tribunal is non-functional, where the petitioner has instituted a suit, it is directed that the DDA shall not take any action pursuant to its notice dated February 11, 2025,” the court said, posting the matter for further hearing on September 10.
The DDA’s February notice had demanded a payment of ₹12 lakh from the Idgah committee for using the surrounding park to host Ijtema, a religious congregation. Counsel for the petitioner argued that the land in question forms part of the Idgah premises and that the DDA has no rightful claim over it.
In contrast, DDA’s counsel maintained that the park is DDA property, citing a previous single-judge ruling of the high court made during earlier litigation concerning the installation of a statue of Maharani Lakshmi Bai at the same site. That decision, according to the DDA, affirmed its ownership.
However, the petitioner’s counsel countered that the single judge lacked jurisdiction to rule on the title of the land and stressed that a subsequent division bench had not endorsed that finding, leaving all contentions open for adjudication.
