The Delhi High Court has issued a directive on Thursday, instructing the authorities to refrain from taking any immediate action against the Shahi Masjid, a cemetery, and a school that have been in existence for over a century in Dhaula Kuan.

Justice Prateek Jalan issued a temporary order when issuing a notice and requesting a response from various entities, including the Delhi government's Religious Committee (Home), the Central government, Delhi Development Authority, Sub Divisional Magistrate of Delhi Cantonment area, and Delhi Waqf Board. This action was taken in response to a petition expressing concerns about the potential demolition of the mosque, madrasa, and a public cemetery.

The court has directed the authorities to provide their responses to the petition within a four-week period and has set a date for the next hearing on January 31.

In the meantime, considering the acknowledged age of the structures, which is over a century, the judge has directed the respondents to refrain from any actions against these buildings until the upcoming court hearing on January 31st.

The court was in the process of reviewing the petition submitted by the managing committee of the Shahi Masjid and Qabristan Kangal Shah, which is located near Kitchener Lake in Bagh Mochi, Dhaula Kuan.

The managing committee, represented by advocate Fuzail Ahmad Ayyubi, filed the petition out of concern that the mosque, madarsa, and graveyard might face legal action. This concern arose following a meeting of the city government's religious committee on October 20, during which the property was referred to as an unauthorized religious structure.

"During these deliberations, there was consideration of the possibility of demolishing the properties associated with the waqf, specifically the Shahi Masjid, Madarsa, and Qabristan Kangal Shah, all of which have existed for more than a century and are considered as waqf property under the management of the petitioner committee," as stated in the plea.

The judge questioned whether any action was planned for the near future during the session.

In response, counsel Arun Panwar, speaking on behalf of the religious committee and the SDM, stated that since there was only a mosque on the property at first, the DDA, as the land's owner, must take action.

The lawyer representing the petitioner argued that the property fell outside the scope of the religious committee's authority since it was located on privately owned land.

The plea states that the respondents have been asserting their claim by referring to the internal transfer of land, presenting it as government property. This is despite the fact that they have consistently acknowledged the presence of a mosque on privately owned land and have never raised any claims or objections regarding the burial ground, as the mosque and religious school coexist on this land, making it a unified piece of property.

The petition expressed that the committee is deeply concerned about the arbitrary actions taken by the authorities. These actions involved incorrectly designating their mosque, dargah, graveyard, and madarsa as unauthorized, even though they were previously acknowledged as private property and were not affected during previous demolitions of unauthorized structures in the vicinity. The petition also highlighted that the authorities did not provide the petitioner with an opportunity for a fair hearing.