Even if there is any claim, you should relinquish that claim saying a gurdwara is already there’

The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a Delhi Wakf Board petition claiming possession of property on which a gurdwara is located in the national capital’s Shahadra area.

Ruling in favour of the gurdwara, the apex court rejected the board’s contention that the property in question was waqf. “There is a gurdwara, let it be. Even if there is any claim, you should relinquish that claim saying a gurdwara is already there,” a Bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and Satish Chandra Sharma said to the Delhi Waqf Board counsel who argued for possession of gurdwara property.

The SC gave the orders on the Delhi Waqf Board’s petition challenging a September 2010 Delhi High Court order rejecting the Board’s suit for possession of the stated property. The board submitted that the property in question was waqf and had been in use as waqf since time immemorial.

Arguing for the board, the counsel flagged findings of a trial judge that a mosque existed at the property in question.The counsel further argued that one witness appearing for the gurdwara side too had admitted that there was a mosque and “some kind of a gurdwara” which was not registered.