The Supreme Court refused to intervene on Monday in a November 2017 ruling of the Allahabad High Court, in the case of Waqf Masjid High Court vs High Court of Judicature Allahabad and ors which ordered the demolition of a mosque from its premises. 

A bench of Justices MR Shah and CT Ravikumar granted parties three months to comply with the High Court ruling while enabling the petitioner, Waqf Masjid High Court, to make a plea to the State government for the alternative property.

On November 8, 2017, a division bench of the Allahabad High Court comprising of Chief Justice DB Bhosale and Justice MK Gupta ruled that the unlawful constructions existing on the site in question in the High Court premises could not be allowed to remain.

The High Court saw an “acute crunch of space” on the premises and noticed that the Waqf property was impeding the passage of the fire brigade. The High Court was unable to organize separate chambers for twelve judges, who are sharing six chambers, due to an influx of judges and a lack of space. 

As a result, the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board was ordered to dismantle the mosque and turn over custody of the site to the High Court within three months. When the case reached the Supreme Court, the High Court stated that the mosque could not remain on its grounds.