Nizamuddin Markaz Can be Opened for Ramadan Subject to COVID19 Protocols, Center to Delhi High Court [READ ORDER]

The Delhi High Court was informed today by the Central Government that the mosque at Nizamuddin Markaz can be made operational for devotees to give prayers for Ramadan, which begins on (April 14, 2021), according to the Delhi Disaster Management Authority's (DDMA's) guidance for Covid-19, and that social distancing will be observed at the mosque. The central government submitted to Justice Mukta Gupta during the hearing of a petition by the Waqf Board seeking the reopening of the Nizamuddin Markaz, where the Tablighi Jamaat congregation was held during the COVID-19 pandemic and had been locked since (March 31, 2020)

The Centre announced on (March 24, 2021) that 50 people selected by the Waqf board would be permitted to pray at the mosque during the "Shab-e-Barat" holiday. The court, however, rejected the Centre's and Delhi Police's request that only 20 people be allowed into the premises at a time, from a police-verified list of 200 people.

Justice Mukta Gupta's single-judge bench orally said, "It's a wide-open space. They don't have to have a set (number of) devotees like no other religious institution does." 

The court also declined to impose a limit of 200 (police-verified) visitors to the mosque, claiming that anybody might choose to attend a temple, mosque, or church. 

Allowing the application, the court recorded the Delhi Waqf Board's request for a joint inspection of the mosque by the jurisdictional police station's SHO and the mosque's office bearers, in the presence of one member of the Waqf Board and Mr Wajeeh Shafiq, Standing Counsel for the Board.

The Board has stated that the exercise of calculating the area of the mosque where devotees will give Namaz five times a day will be finished successfully, and that, following the DDMA's guidelines, "blocks will be made at the position where the prayer mats can be placed for the devotees to offer Namaz." 

In response to the Union's submission, the Board has also decided to install CCTV cameras by (Apr 13, 2021) in consultation with the jurisdictional SHO to ensure the safety of everyone on the premises and guests.

The Delhi Waqf Board had previously requested the court to lift restrictions at Nizamuddin Markaz, which has been locked after a complaint was filed in connection with a Tablighi Jamaat congregation there last year.

[READ ORDER]