Waqf Board submits 2006 document in district court
The Himachal Pradesh Waqf Board on Friday presented in the district court an 18-year-old document that identified Latif Mohammad as the nominated president of the committee for the under-contention Sanjauli mosque here.
The court had on Monday directed the Waqf Board to file an affidavit stating in what capacity Latif Mohammad had offered to demolish the three unauthorised floors of the disputed mosque.
In response, the Waqf Board presented a 2006 document in which Latif was nominated as the president of the Sanjauli mosque committee, All Himachal Muslim Organisation (AHMO) counsel Vishva Bhushan said. According to the Waqf Act, the tenure of the committee members was five years, he added.
Latif told reporters, “The Waqf Board stated in its reply that I have been the president of the Sanjauli mosque committee since 2006 and the Municipal Commissioner’s Court had also given a notice to me in the capacity that I was the committee president in September.” There had been calls from locals for the demolition of the Sanjauli mosque.
On September 11, 10 people were injured during a protest against allegedly illegal portions of the mosque. A day later, Latif and others had offered to demolish the mosque’s three “unauthorised” floors and sought the permission of the Municipal Commissioner.
The Municipal Commissioner’s Court had on October 5 allowed the demolition and gave two months to complete the work, following which the AHMO filed an appeal against the order in the district court. The next hearing in the matter has been fixed for November 30.
