Race Course Masjid: Centre tells Delhi High Court no demolition for four weeks, court refuses to allow namaz

The petition

The petition was brought by a worshipper, named in one report as Syed Ahmed Saud. He challenged the denial of access to the mosque and cited the right to religious practice under Article 25 of the Constitution. He alleged that electricity and water connections to the mosque were cut during a demolition drive aimed at nearby settlements. One report notes that the mosque was not listed among the encroachments. The petition also seeks directions for the Waqf Board to act under Section 32 of the Waqf Act, 1995.

The namaz request

The court said it could not compel the government to allow prayers at the mosque, citing demolition work nearby and safety concerns. It acknowledged that access to the mosque and to a nearby temple would stay restricted while demolition continues in the area. The court asked who would pay compensation if someone were injured during the demolition. The request for prayers was deferred to the next hearing, so access for namaz remains unresolved, and worshippers currently cannot reach the mosque.

The Race Course Masjid stands inside the Delhi Race Club, which covers about 53 acres near 7, Lok Kalyan Marg, the Prime Minister's residence. The wider area includes the Delhi Race Club and the Jaipur Polo Ground. The petitioner argues that the mosque is a notified Waqf property, and that it was included in a Waqf properties notification issued on 27 July 1977. It is described as a Waqf-notified heritage property.

The land is being repossessed by the Land and Development Office as part of a Centre-led land reclamation drive around Lok Kalyan Marg. Slum dwellings occupied by nearly 700 families in the area have already been demolished as part of this effort.

In an earlier report, residents said the main demolition drive took place on 7 October. The Land and Development Office declared the premises unauthorised and served an eviction notice on 19 October, requiring them to be vacated within six days. It cited the area being a protected zone next to an operational Air Force Station and said removal was needed for security. About 700 families lived in the area, and their homes have been demolished. Families from Bhai Ram Camp, Masjid Camp and DID Camp were allotted flats at Savda Ghevra, about 50 km away, by the Delhi Urban Shelter Improvement Board. Residents say fewer than 60% of the allotted families have moved there, and they cite a lack of nearby schools and hospitals.

A 1977 Delhi Gazette notification lists the mosque and its attached graveyard as Waqf property, and the New Delhi Municipal Council notified it as a grade 2 heritage site in 2009. The Delhi Waqf Board says the mosque is about 300 years old and is protected under the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991. The age is disputed, and the plea describes it as more than 150 years old.

Utilities were cut after the demolitions. Worshippers said tap water resumed on 23 October but the electricity had not been restored, and the Waqf Board wrote to the Land and Development Office on 19 October asking for both to be restored. Friday prayers were held at the mosque on 23 October. The imam, Mohammad Haroon, says that he approached the court on 15 October and that his writ petition was dismissed.

Within four weeks the Centre has to decide the Delhi Waqf Board's representation, and it must file a status report. The reports found do not say what the representation asks for, and they carry no statement from the Waqf Board or from the petitioner's lawyers. The next hearing on 16 December will show what the Centre has decided. Until then the mosque is protected from demolition, but the namaz question is open.