District court dimisses Waqf claim over Indore's Karbala Maidan grounds
- In Reports
- 01:49 PM, Sep 18, 2024
- Myind Staff
In a landmark legal ruling, the district court has declared that 6.7 acres of the Karbala Maidan grounds in Indore city is not a Waqf property but belongs to the municipal corporation. This decision ends a protracted legal battle that has been ongoing since 1979.
Mayor Pushyamitra Bhargava hailed the judgment as a "historic legal battle" and a significant victory for the civic body. He explained that the municipal corporation had initially faced a setback in 2019 when a civil court dismissed its plea to stop the illegal occupation of Karbala Maidan. Following this dismissal, the corporation filed a revision application with the district court, which has now ruled in their favour.
District Judge Narsingh Baghel issued the judgment on September 13, stating, "The respondents have failed to prove that the suit property is a waqf property." The key respondents in the case included the Madhya Pradesh Waqf Board, the Karbala Maidan Committee, and other representatives from the Muslim community.
The municipal corporation’s case was built on the premise that, according to the Indore Municipal Act of 1909, the Madhya India Municipality Act of 1917, and the Municipal Act of 1956—laws that were in effect during the Holkars' rule before Indian independence—the ownership of all open lands, excluding government and private properties, is vested in the municipal body.
On the other hand, the defendants argued that the land had been allocated by the Holkar rulers specifically for the immersion of Tazias during Muharram and that a mosque also stands on the site. They maintained that the Muslim community had been in continuous possession of the land for nearly 200 years.
Despite these claims, the court ruled in favour of the municipal corporation. The court accepted the corporation’s argument that only a part of the land has been used for Tazia immersion over the past 150 years, which influenced the ruling in favour of the municipal ownership of the land. This decision underscores the legal complexities involved in property disputes and highlights the judicial process in resolving such matters.
Image source: Free Press Journal
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