Delhi court rejects suit to restore temples in Qutab Minar complex

A Delhi court has rejected a civil suit seeking the restoration of 27 Hindu and Jain temples in the Qutab Minar complex in Mehrauli, filed by “Jain deity Tirthankara Lord Rishabh Dev, Lord Vishnu (Principal Deity, Temple Complex) and others by advocates Hari Shankar Jain, Ranjana Agnihotri and Jitender Singh Vishen, saying they are the deities’ friends.”

Civil Judge Neha Sharma, on 29 November, while passing the order said, “Nobody has denied that wrongs were committed in the past, but such wrongs cannot be the basis for disturbing the peace of our present and future.” “There is a presumption of correctness in every official act. The Notification Dated January 16, 1914, has not been challenged till date. Even plaintiffs have not challenged the validity of the said notification. Consequently, it stands valid. Hence, as per the provisions of the Act, the ownership lies with the Government and the plaintiffs have no right to claim restoration and right to religious worship in the same without challenging the notification itself,” she added.

The suit was filed to preserve and protect the religious and cultural heritage of India and to exercise the right to religion guaranteed by Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution of India by restoring 27 Hindu and Jain temples with respective deities which were dismantled, desecrated and damaged under the command and orders of Qutab-Din-Aibak, a commander of invader Mohammad Gauri, who established slave dynasty and raised some construction at the same very place of temples naming it as, Quwwat-Ul-Islam Mosque.

The suit has claimed that according to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), 27 Hindu and Jain temples were demolished and Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque was raised inside the complex reusing the materials and sought to “restore” the demolished temples. The suit further sought to declare that Lord Vishnu, Lord Shiva, Lord Ganesh, Lord Sun, Goddess Gauri, Lord Hanuman, Jain deity Tirthankar Lord Rishab Dev have the right to be “restored” within the temple complex at the site of Quwwatul Mosque Complex, Mehrauli, south-west Delhi “after rebuilding it with the same honour and dignity”.