Lagatar24 Desk
New Delhi, Sept 13: While hearing an appeal that sought to grant Hindus and Jains the right to worship inside the Qutub Minar complex, the Saket court in Delhi on Tuesday reserved its decision on an Intervention Application (IA) filed by Kunwar Mahender Dhwaj Pratap Singh, who claimed ownership rights over the land surrounding the Qutub Minar.
In the case, Dhwaj Pratap Singh had asserted through IA that he was an heir to the United Provinces of Agra and that the Qutub Minar’s property belonged to him as a result. He demanded that the minaret and the Quwwat-ul-Islam mosque be granted to him.
The intervenor claimed on Tuesday that he possesses Privy Council papers and that the government encroached on his property after 1947.
Amita Sachdeva, an attorney for the Hindu side, argued that the intervenor is claiming property rights 102 years after the intervenor. He has no interest in receiving any sort of court redress. This petition should be dismissed with severe penalties because it is nothing more than a publicity gimmick.
As implied from the applicant’s representations, ASI previously asserted in a new affidavit that the applicant’s claim that he has a legal claim to the aforementioned cities in and surrounding Delhi has not been raised before a court of law since India’s independence, or 1947.
Additionally, the applicant’s claim of ownership and right to prevent trespassing on his property has lapsed under the theory of laches and delay because the deadline for filing a recovery/possession/injunction against the same, whether it be of 3 years or 12 years, has long since passed, according to ASI.
The period of limitation has already passed many times over, according to ASI in the affidavit, because the entire procedure was followed when the property in question was declared a Protected Monument in 1913 and no one objected before the authorities.
On Tuesday, Additional District Judge Dinesh Kumar reserved his decision about the IA filed by Kunwar Dhwaj and set September 17, 2022, as the deadline for his announcement.
