Nizamudddin Markaz: HC allows 50 people a day during Ramzan

The Delhi High Court on Thursday allowed 50 people to offer prayers five times a day at the Nizamuddin Markaz during Ramzan.

Justice Prathiba M Singh directed the station house officer of Nizamuddin police station to permit entry of 50 people to the first floor of the Masjid Bangley Wali. The Markaz comprises the masjid, Madarsa Kashif-ul-uloom and an attached hostel.

The court declined to admit more people or allow use of other floors of the mosque for offering prayers, as sought by senior advocate Ramesh Gupta on behalf of the Delhi Waqf Board. But it allowed the board to move an application before the SHO for the same.

Also read: Markaz: Centre tells HC all religious gatherings banned in Delhi

The order is subject to any notification issued by the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) in view of the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the capital.

The Markaz building was shut in March 2020 after a gathering of the Tablighi Jamaat was termed as a superspreader event.

The Waqf Board approached the HC requesting that the restrictions be eased to allow people to pray inside the Markaz during Ramzan.

The Centre first agreed that devotees could be allowed back in. But a day later, it told the court that no one must be allowed in the mosque as all religious gatherings had been banned under DDMA rules.

The case came up at a time when massive crowds have gathered at the Kumbh Mela in Uttarakhand’s Haridwar in defiance of COVID rules.