HC limits Ramzan prayers at Markaz to 50 per day
New Delhi: Days after the Centre and the Delhi Police objected to Ramzan prayer congregations being held at the Nizamuddin Markaz mosque here, the Delhi High Court on Thursday dismissed their submissions and allowed 50 persons to offer prayers inside the premises for five times a day as per the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) guidelines. A single-judge bench of Justice Mukta Gupta said: "The petitioners have made a prima facie case where devotees will perform Namaz at Masjid Banglewali". The court, however, ordered that the performance of Namaaz has to be in accordance with the DDMA guidelines.
"Considering the fact that the devotees are required to perform namaz five times a day during the holy month of Ramzan and at the same time it has to be taken care that COVID-19 infection does not spread which is increasing exponentially in Delhi, (this) does not affect the health of the public at large and the devotees," the court ruled, while directing the Station House Officer (SHO) of Nizamuddin to permit devotees to hold prayers at the mosque on the first floor at a designated area while following all COVID-19 protocols.
A day after it agreed to let devotees inside the mosque, the Centre and Delhi Police on Tuesday had told the court that no congregation can take place inside it as the same has been prohibited according to the April 10 DDMA guidelines and hence prayers during the holy month of Ramadan cannot take place.
Following this, the court had told the Centre to file an affidavit detailing the steps being taken to prevent congregations and gatherings at other religious places in Delhi-NCR.
The court had earlier rejected the Centre and Delhi's submission that only 20 persons from a police-verified list of 200 persons will be allowed to enter the mosque, following which a joint inspection of the authorities and mosque management had taken place at the premises in order to mark out space to hold the prayers in accordance with safety protocols. The mosque has been lying locked since an FIR was registered against the Tablighi Jamaat members last year owing to their violation of various COVID-19 protocols.
Advocate Rajat Nair, on behalf of the Centre, told the court, "We have inquired from the churches... Sacred Heart Church in its website has a notification saying Sunday Mass has gone online... we have also enquired from Kalkaji Temple... darshan and aarti has gone online…"
The court said, "Are you sure? Are you ready to make a statement? You should have verified that aarti is not being allowed…" Advocate Nair said, "People are standing there for the darshan, aarti is only being done by the pujari... no assembly is permitted... we don't know what will happen later... half an hour back a conference was held... any congregation may lead to a drastic situation…"
"I wish such an affidavit may have been filed when I stated it…" Justice Gupta remarked.
The court, expressing its displeasure with the Centre's affidavit, stated that "it is evident from the status report that no clear stand has been taken that religious gathering or festivals have been taking place in temples, churches…"
In response to the order, Senior advocate Ramesh Gupta, appearing for the Delhi Waqf Board, submitted that the Ramzan prayers should be allowed on all three floors of the mosque. On this, Justice Gupta said, "It is in everybody's interest to maintain the sanctity and safety of everyone... if there wasn't a curfew, we wouldn't have put the restriction... day by day, the situation in the capital is getting grim, please awake to the grim situation".
