Supreme Court Tosses Out Waqf Board’s Shahdara Land Claim—Gurudwara Presence Seals the Deal
Alright, here’s the lowdown. The Supreme Court just shut the door on the Delhi Waqf Board’s bid for a bit of land in Shahdara, and honestly, the clincher was the fact that there’s a Gurudwara smack dab on that spot.
So, a couple of judges—Justices Sanjay Karol and Satish Chandra Sharma—looked at the whole saga, which, by the way, started way back in the ‘80s. The Waqf Board wanted the land, swearing up and down it was mosque property, waqf and all that jazz for generations. Meanwhile, Hira Singh (now passed away) said, “Hold up, I bought this land in 1953 from a guy named Mohd. Ahsaan, and, fun fact, there’s been a Gurudwara there since before Partition—late 1940s, at least.”
And get this, it wasn’t even the Board’s first rodeo. They’d tried claiming it twice before—in 1970 and 1978—but both times, they bailed on the lawsuits.
At first, the trial court actually sided with the Board. Even the appellate court backed them in 1989. But then, plot twist—the High Court flipped it, saying the Board couldn’t prove the land was ever officially religious property or that it was used as waqf land without a break. Plus, Singh’s side had basically been chilling there, totally uncontested, since at least 1947-48.
Naturally, the Board wasn’t thrilled and took it all the way to the Supreme Court in 2012. But the top court? Not buying it. They agreed with the High Court especially since, you know, the Gurudwara’s been standing there for ages.
