HC dismisses plea seeking nod for ‘regular namaz’ at Sambhal plot

Bareilly: The Allahabad high court has dismissed a writ petition filed by a petitioner seeking security, protection and permission to offer namaz at a private premises of 82.8 sqm at Ikona in Pargana Rajpura area of Gunnaur tehsil in Sambhal.The order by the bench, presided over by Justice Garima Prashad and Justice Saral Srivastava, and accessed by TOI, stated: “The petitioner claimed ownership of the land on the basis of an alleged registered gift deed dated June 16, 2023, allegedly executed by Deen Mohammad in his favour. He contended that the respondent authorities were restraining prayers and that such interference violated his fundamental rights under Articles 19, 25, 26, 27, and 28 of the Constitution.”DM (Sambhal) Rajendra Pensia told TOI: “The state, through its standing counsel, informed the court that the land in question, khata number 613, is recorded as Abadi land, meant for public use for residential purposes.”The state further submitted that the gift deed does not contain basic revenue particulars such as ‘gata’ or ‘khata’ numbers and rests only on vague boundary descriptions.As per the SDM report placed before the court, ‘namaz’ had traditionally been offered at the location only on Eid, and no restrictions were imposed back then. The petitioner, however, was seeking to introduce regular, large-scale congregational prayers, including participants from outside the village.The court held that the “pleadings were vague and lacked material particulars... No specific incident or identifiable act attributable to any authority was disclosed.” It further held that the gift deed did not establish an identifiable title and could not displace the revenue record.The court further stated that even if assuming the land to be private, the records said that petitioner “was not protecting an existing practice but seeking to expand it beyond a limited private sphere, which falls outside constitutional protection and is subject to regulation.”The writ petition was accordingly dismissed on April 6 while the order was uploaded later.In another case, the HC had granted security to offer namaz on private land and reprimanded the Sambhal DM and SP, saying, “If you could not maintain law and order, you should either resign or seek a transfer outside Sambhal...”