Residential portion of Nizamuddin Markaz be unlocked, handed over to Maulana Saad's family: Delhi court

By Sushil Batra
New Delhi [India], September 12 : A Delhi court has directed the authorities to hand over the keys of the residential portion of the Markaz Tablighi Jamaat in Nizamuddin area to the family of its chief Maulana Saad after five days from the receipt of this order, to enable the probe agencies to inspect the premises before the handover.
The applicant, mother of Maulana Saad, and her family members were also directed to give an undertaking on an affidavit that they shall not obstruct the investigation in any manner and the residential portion of the property will only be used for residing by its residents only and that they will not enter any part other of the Markaz and its premises for any other purpose.
Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Gurmohina Kaur of Saket Courts complex, while granting relief to the application on Friday, said that every person, who is a citizen of India is entitled to the right to life and liberty enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution of India and the right to access to the residential property would fall within one of these sacrosanct rights.
"This court is not an appropriate form to decide the ownership of any property. It also requires mentioning that in the present case, the applicant only seeks unlocking of the residential premises. It also requires mentioning that the fact that the applicant and her family are only residing in the residential portion of the property... has never been disputed by any of the opposite parties till date either during the hearing or in any of the replies filed," the order said.
The court also noted that after sanitization, the premises was locked as per the directions of the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) and keys were handed over to police officials for facilitation as premises were required to be inspected by various agencies.
"Even though, it is not mentioned in any of the reply filed, that the residential portion is a scene of crime or whether it has been inspected by concerned agencies for the preservation and evidence purposes, this court, will deem it appropriate to give one more opportunity to the investigating agencies to inspect the premises sought to be unlocked within five working days from the date of receipt of this order. Thereafter, keys should be handed over to the applicant against acknowledgment," the order said.
During the arguments, special public prosecutor argued that the property was not sealed under any provision of the law, but the premises sought to be unlocked was locked for the preservation of the crime scene. The prosecutor submitted that the keys are with the Delhi Police and investigation is still pending in the present case.
The counsel for Khalida, mother of Maulana Saad, had argued that all the concerned officials have admitted the fact that the keys of residential premises are with Delhi Police and the applicant and her family have been denied access to her residential premises for more than six months now. The counsel argued that no person can be restricted/restrained for using residential property in any provision of law.
According to the application, after the registration of an FIR on March 31, 2020, the entire Markaz premises was vacated and locked for the purpose of sanitization and disinfection by the authorities and keys of the premises were handed over to the police.
"It is further averred in the application that the residential part of the premises is a four storey building and the said building is divided by wall into two section, wherein, in one section the applicant and her family resides and the entrance for both the sections of the building are separate and not interconnected," the application said.