Supreme Court declines plea against pujas at Ladle Mashaq Dargah in Kalaburagi
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to entertain a writ petition seeking to restrain courts from permitting Hindu pujas at the Raghav Chaitanya (Shivalinga) located within the Hazrath Ladle Mashaq Dargah premises in Aland town of Kalaburagi district. The petition was dismissed as withdrawn.
According to The Hindu, a Bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and S.C. Sharma was hearing the plea filed by Khaleel Ansari, secretary of the managing committee of Dargah Hazrath Malikul Mashaikh Makdoom Ladle Ansari.
The petitioner submitted that the property had already been declared Waqf property by the Waqf Tribunal. Despite this, third parties were allegedly filing writ petitions and applications before the Karnataka High Court seeking permission to conduct pujas on specific occasions. The High Court had passed ad hoc orders permitting rituals from time to time, including for the upcoming Maha Shivratri on February 15.
The plea contended that such permissions would alter the religious character of the property in violation of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991. It sought directions to protect the Waqf status of the dargah and to restrain courts from passing interim orders permitting entry, puja, inspection, survey, construction, installation or alteration of the religious character of the property while an appeal against the Waqf declaration is pending.
The petitioner also relied on the Supreme Court’s December 2024 order which said that courts should not accept new cases challenging the religious character of places of worship.
Senior advocate Vibha Datta Makhija, appearing for the petitioner, contended that once the Waqf Tribunal had declared the property as Waqf, the issue should not be reopened through repeated petitions.
She submitted that since 2023, third parties had been approaching the High Court every year ahead of Maha Shivratri seeking permission to perform rituals, and temporary orders were being granted.
She argued that this affected the managing committee’s rights under Article 26 of the Constitution and sought tagging of the matter with other pending cases related to the Places of Worship Act.
The Bench, however, was not inclined to entertain the plea under Article 32. Justice Datta observed that Article 32 was not designed to be invoked merely because certain orders had been passed by a High Court. “Unless it is a pan-India issue,” he remarked, the remedy would not lie under Article 32. He indicated that if the High Court were to dismiss a petition, the aggrieved party could pursue appropriate remedies thereafter.
The Court also observed that matters relating to the declaration of Waqf property fall within the jurisdiction of the Waqf Tribunal. The request to tag the matter with the Places of Worship Act cases was declined.
The petition was ultimately dismissed as withdrawn.
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Bihar: Over 150 children fall ill after consuming 'mid-day meal' in Saharsa
Saharsa (PTI): More than 150 children were taken ill after allegedly consuming food that was part of the mid-day meal in a school in Bihar’s Saharsa district, a senior official said on Thursday.
The incident occurred at a middle school in Baluaha village of the district.
The official said that 115 children were undergoing treatment at the Sadar Hospital, while around 50 students were admitted to Mahishi Public Health Centre.
“We received information that several children fell ill after consuming the mid-day meal in Baluaha. The children were initially treated at the primary health centre, but later, many were referred to the Sadar Hospital,” Saharsa District Magistrate Deepesh Kumar told reporters.
“According to doctors, the health condition of the children has improved, but they will be kept under observation for some time. There is no need to panic. Some kids are having mild fever. They are being treated accordingly,” Kumar said.
Meanwhile, family members of some children claimed that a snake was found in the container in which cooked pulses was stored at the school.
Of the 545 students present in the school, 200 had already eaten their meals by the time the snake was spotted, and later complained of stomach ache and vomiting, they said.
Regarding the claims, the DM said food samples have been collected from the school.
“We will be able to comment on this only after the results of the tested samples arrive,” he said.
