Order to remove 70 year old mosque, fine of ₹6.41 crore imposed

On Thursday (July 16), the Municipal Magistrate’s Court has ordered the removal of the Purami Masjid, built in the Collectorate complex in Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh, which has been built for about 70 years. The court has considered this mosque as an illegal construction built on government land. Along with this, the court has also imposed a fine of Rs 6.41 crore on the mosque committee. This big decision has come under the Uttar Pradesh Public Premises Act (PP Act). The court of City Magistrate Kuldeep Singh gave this decision after hearing the arguments of both the parties.

Bajrang Dal’s complaint

The court has clearly said that the illegal encroachers will have to remove the encroachment themselves within 30 days. If the encroachment is not removed within the stipulated time, the administration will take forceful eviction action and will also recover the fine amount. This whole matter started in January 2025. Then the then state coordinator of Bajrang Dal, Vikas Tyagi had made a written complaint about this mosque to the Chief Minister. In his complaint, he had alleged that the mosque had been constructed illegally on the government land of the Collectorate complex. He had demanded a complete investigation into the matter.

Vikas Tyagi had alleged that this place located in the District Magistrate’s office premises is not being used only for religious purposes. A post office is being run in the premises by the Mosque Committee. Along with this, huge income is being earned by renting out many rooms built there. Even under Right to Information (RTI), no clear answer was received on this.

After receiving the complaint, the administrative officials conducted a thorough investigation. On the basis of the facts found in the investigation, a case was filed in the city magistrate’s court. According to District Government Advocate Avnish Tyagi, Khasra number-539 of the Collectorate complex is registered in the name of the court in the government records. A mosque has been built on its 315 square meter area.

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