Bombay high court hears plea over namaz space near Mumbai airport

Mumbai: Bombay high court on Friday asked the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) to state by next week if it would consider, purely on "humanitarian" grounds, permitting autorickshaw, taxi, Ola-Uber drivers, and even passengers to offer namaz at a temporary shed in the vicinity of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Airport's domestic terminal.The HC was hearing a petition filed on Jan 19 by the Taxi-Rickshaw Ola-Uber Men's Union, seeking orders to protect the fundamental rights of "thousands of devotees, who were deprived of a place of temporary worship inside the airport premises".
The union was aggrieved by the "sudden demolition" of a prayer space. It said MIAL assured the union that a temporary prayer hall would be provided for Ramzan. However, with no space created, they approached the HC to direct MIAL and the govt to restore the prayer hall or provide an alternative prayer space on the airport premises. tnn