Prayagraj14 March. The Allahabad High Court has made a strong comment, completely rejecting the government’s argument of limiting the number of worshipers inside the Sambhal mosque. In this sequence, the court said that it is the primary duty of the state to ensure the rule of law in every situation.

The division bench of Justice Atul Sreedharan and Justice Siddharth Nandan made it clear that if officers find themselves incapable of handling law and order, they should resign from the post. The court suggested that if the DM and SP cannot control the situation, they should resign or get transferred from the district.

Hearing on Munajir Khan’s petition

The court said that it is the responsibility of the state to ensure that every community can pray peacefully at its designated place of worship. If a place of worship is private property, no special permission from the state is required for religious activities there.

The High Court has already made it clear that state intervention is mandatory only when religious activities are taking place on public land. This order came during the hearing of the petition of Munajir Khan, a resident of Sambhal, who challenged the ban on Namaz.

Dispute regarding land ownership

Petitioner Munajir Khan had alleged that he was being unreasonably prevented from offering namaz during Ramzan at Gata No. 291. On the other hand, the state government told the court that there is a dispute in the revenue records regarding the ownership of the concerned land. According to government data, this land is registered in the name of Mohan Singh and Bhuraj Singh and not in the name of any mosque. Citing law and order, the administration had allowed only 20 worshipers to offer namaz there.

Next hearing of the case 16 on march

During the hearing, the fact also came to light that the petitioner has not presented any photograph in the court of the place or mosque where Namaz is to be offered. The government lawyer argued that gathering of a large crowd could lead to communal tension, hence the number was limited. Considering this argument as administrative failure, the court has given time to the petitioner to present photographs and revenue records of the place of Namaz. Now the next hearing of this case will be on March 16, which the court has kept in the list of top ten cases.