Supreme Court rejects challenge to demolition of 200-year-old Ujjain mosque

The Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal contesting the demolition of the 200-year-old Takiya Masjid in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain, ruling that the acquisition process for the land had been lawfully completed and could no longer be reopened.

The mosque was razed in January after the state government acquired the land to expand the parking facilities for the adjoining Mahakal Temple complex. A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta upheld the Madhya Pradesh High Court’s findings, observing that compensation had been paid and that an earlier petition questioning the acquisition itself had been withdrawn by the mosque’s representatives.

“Too late now, nothing can be done,” Justice Nath remarked during the brief hearing, signalling the court’s view that the challenge had been filed at a stage when the process was already irreversible.

The petitioners — Mohammed Taiyab and 12 others — argued that the mosque had been recorded as Waqf property since 1985 and that they had regularly offered namaz there. They sought orders to direct the state to reconstruct the mosque and initiate an inquiry against the Ujjain district collector and the land acquisition officer.

Senior advocate M R Shamshad, representing the petitioners, contended that the demolition was carried out to create parking space for “another religious place” and criticised the High Court for suggesting that the petitioners could pray elsewhere. He further argued that the compensation had been paid to “unauthorised persons.”

The bench, however, noted that any grievances regarding compensation could be pursued through separate legal remedies, but the demolition and acquisition could not be revisited at this stage.