A division bench of the Karnataka High Court on Friday permitted the state government to consider and pass appropriate orders on the applications received by the Deputy Commissioner of Bengaluru (Urban) seeking use of Idgah Maidan at Chamarajpet in Bengaluru for religious and cultural activities from August 31 onwards.
The bench headed by Acting Chief Justice Alok Aradhe passed this interim order on the appeal filed by the state government challenging the order of status quo passed by the single judge on Thursday which had directed the parties to use the land only as a playground and for offering prayers for Muslims on Ramzan and Bakrid.
“It is clarified that rest of the directions contained in the order dated 25.08.2022 passed by the learned Single Judge remain unaltered. It is also clarified that the observations/findings have been made in this order only for the purpose of considering the prayer for interim relief and shall have no bearing on the merits of the matter either in this appeal or in the writ petition pending before the learned Single Judge,” the division bench said.
The Advocate General Prabhuling K Navadgi submitted that there is a dispute with regard to the title of the Idgah Maidan land.
He also said that the deputy commissioner has received as many as five applications from various organisations seeking permission to use the land on August 31 (Ganesha Chaturthi) for a limited period for the purpose of holding religious and cultural activities. He requested the court that the government may be permitted to take appropriate decisions on those applications.
The bench observed: “It appears that there is a dispute with regard to title of the property in question.” It further said, “The Indian Society comprises religious, linguistic, regional or sectional diversities. The Constitution of India itself fosters brotherhood amongst various sections of the Society. The principle of religious toleration is the characteristic of Indian civilization. We, therefore, at this stage, in the peculiar facts of the case, modify the interim order dated 25.08.2022 and permit the State Government to consider and pass appropriate orders on applications received by the Deputy Commissioner seeking use of the land in question for holding religious and cultural activities for a limited period from 31.08.2022 onwards,” the bench said. The hearing has been adjourned to September 12.
The petitioners before the single judge have challenged the August 6, 2022 order passed by the Joint Commissioner of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (West) dismissing their application for inclusion of their name along with the Central Muslim Association of Karnataka in the Khata register and also for digitalisation of khata. The Joint Commissioner had also declared that the property belongs to the Revenue Department.
Bengaluru City Police Commissioner C H Pratap Reddy visited Idgah maidan on Friday evening took stock of security measures for upcoming Ganesha festival.