Akbarabadi Mosque did not Exist

New Delhi: The Supreme Court was told that no structure called Akbarabadi Mosque existed at any point in time in Subhash Park near the historic Jama Masjid here and it was only the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) which could undertake any work at the site. “There is no evidence of the existence of Akbarabdi Mosque,” Ram Jethmalani told a bench of Chief Justice Altamas Kabir, Justice Anil R. Dave and Justice Vikramajit Sen.
Jethmalani, who has been appointed amicus curiae by the court to appear for respondent Sri Sri Sai Baba Om Ji, made the contention to the bench hearing a petition of Delhi legislator Shoaib Iqbal. Iqbal challenged the Sep 19, 2012, Delhi High court order directing demolition of the illegal wall put up by him and his supporters at the site of the alleged Akbarabadi Mosque. Opposing the plea by Iqbal’s counsel that they may be allowed to undertake the construction, Jethmalani told the court that no authority other than the ASI could undertake masonry work at the site. He said that in 1973, the central government had renamed the Edward Park as Netaji Subhash Park and had put up the statue of the freedom fighter. Earlier, counsel for Iqbal told the court that the issue of Akbarabadi Mosque had not cropped up suddenly, and in 2007, a PIL was filed in the Delhi High Court with reference to this mosque.