Delhi HC dismisses plea opposing installation of Rani Lakshmi Bai statue in Shahi Idgah Park

New Delhi [India], September 24 : The Delhi High Court has dismissed the plea opposing the installation of Rani Lakshmi Bai statue in Shahi Idgah park in Sadar Bazar area.
Justice Dharmesh Sharma dismissed the plea moved by the Shahi Idgah Managing Committee.
"This Court does not see as to how their right to offer prayers or to perform any religious rights is being endangered in any manner," Justice Sharma said.
The court also said that the status quo order passed by the Delhi Minority Commission was palpably without any jurisdiction.
The high court said, "That being the case, the petitioner has no legal or fundamental right to oppose the maintenance and upkeep of the parks/open ground surrounding the Shahi Idgah, by the DDA and thereby oppose the installation of the statue by the MCD at its behest."
The High Court held, "In view of the above, the present writ petition appears to be without any cause of action, and is based on certain facts which were incorporated in the written submissions filed by the Delhi Waqf Board (DWB) before the Delhi Minority Commission without any foundation. There is no gainsaying that evidently the facts stated in the written submissions filed before the Delhi Minority Commission were neither based upon any physical inspection nor based on the correct measurements of the subject property, and there is nothing to discern that the DWB has not placed the correct factual status of the property on the record."
The petitioner committee, through its President Haji Shakir Dost Mohammad, had moved a plea for directions to the respondent DDA and others to not encroach upon the Waqf property, namely Shahi Idgah at Motia Khan, Ram Kumar Marg, Sadar Bazar, Delhi, including Idgah Park, in any manner and restraining the respondent authorities, namely DDA/MCD, from installing any statue or any other structure inside Idgah Park.
The committee had further sought directions to the respondents to install the statue at any of the sites admittedly identified by the DDA in a letter dated 22.07.2023, mentioned in the affidavit on 25.07.2023 filed by the DDA before the Delhi Minority Commission.
The grievance of the petitioner was that on 29.08.2024, the Committee was shocked when a JCB was brought to the site in question and it started digging in one of the parks adjoining the Shahi Idgah and on being enquired, it was revealed that the DDA and MCD, in connivance with each other, are trying to encroach upon the said park and planning to install a statue of Maharani of Jhansi.
The petitioner claimed that they preferred a representation on 30.08.2024, objecting to the installation of the said statute at the site for the same being done on Waqf property, so much so that even the Delhi Waqf Board (DWB) made a representation dated 30.08.2024 against the proposed installation by the DDA and MCD.
It was also pointed out that the petitioner also approached the Delhi Minority Commission, which passed an order on 10.12.2021, noting that the statue presently installed at the roundabout of Rani Jhansi Road, Opposite Videocon Tower, Desh Bandhu Gupta Road, Near Jhandewalan Mandir, Delhi, is proposed to be shifted on account of the expansion plan by the Government for widening of the Rani Jhansi Road, but since concerns were raised that shifting and installation of the statue in the said park inside the subject property might adversely affect the public sentiments and create a law and order situation, therefore, a status-quo was ordered to be maintained at the site.
The High Court took note of the mentioned decision, which clarified that the parks/open ground surrounding the Shahi Idgah are the property of DDA, and have been maintained by the Horticultural Department of the DDA, which is responsible for ensuring that public visitors use the site for recreational purposes.
The court also noted that even the DWB does not authorise using the park for any purpose other than religious activities.
The bottom line is that, since the parks/open ground adjoining the Shahi Idgah and located within the Idgah walls are the property of respondent DDA, it is solely the DDA's responsibility to allocate portions of the said land for public use as it deems fit, the court said.
The bench said, "Although apprehension has been expressed that the installation of the statue at the site might create a law-and-order situation, in as much as a decision has already been taken by the Standing Committee of the MCD to relocate the statute at the subject site, this Court cannot go into the issue of administrative wisdom of the MCD in the implementation of such a resolution.