Sambhal court declares mosque, dargah illegal; imposes Rs 7 crore penalty

Bareilly: A tehsildar court in Sambhal declared a mosque and dargah built on Gram Sabha land illegal, ordered eviction of the occupants and imposed a penalty of about Rs 6.94 crore on Imam Aftab Hussain and his brother Mehtab Hussain. The order was passed on the basis of a report submitted by the area lekhpal confirming the encroachment.The court held that the structures — including a house, mosque and dargah — had been built on 0.134 hectares of Gram Sabha land in Saif Khan Sarai village, which revenue records list as plantation land. Officials said the family had been in unauthorised possession of the land since 1972, while permanent structures were raised around 20 years ago. Sambhal tehsildar Dhirendra Singh said, "The court directed the respondents to vacate the land and imposed a penalty of Rs 6.94 crore based on the applicable circle rate for the period during which their possession of the land existed."During the proceedings, the brothers argued that the mosque and shrine were registered Waqf properties with the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board and said they were acting as mutawallis (caretakers) of the site, where an annual Urs is held. However, the court rejected the claim, stating that government land cannot become Waqf property merely because a religious structure is constructed on it. Officials said authorities had been directed to remove the encroachment and recover the penalty as land revenue. "Eviction and recovery proceedings will begin soon," Singh added.