Uttar Pradesh Mosque Demolished After Court Ruling Declares It Illegal

A mosque within the collectorate office campus in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur that was declared illegal was demolished on Saturday morning. A large police force was deployed during the operation. The administrative action follows a September 4 ruling by the District Judge’s court, which dismissed an appeal by the mosque management committee and upheld an earlier decision which held that the religious structure was encroachment on government property. The City Magistrate had declared the mosque illegal in July and issued an order for its demolition. Abhishek Singh, Saharanpur DIG, said, “There was a mosque here at the Saharanpur Collectorate. The court of the city magistrate found it to be illegally constructed on government land. The appeal [against the demolition] of the Mosque Committee was cancelled.” “We have taken all preventive steps to maintain law and order. We are following all legal procedures in taking this action.” Ahead of the demolition, Samajwadi Party Lok Sabha MP Iqra Hasan was allegedly placed under house arrest at her residence in Kairana to prevent her from traveling to Saharanpur, reported news agency ANI. #WATCH | DIG Saharanpur Abhishek Singh says, “There was a mosque here at Saharanpur Collectorate. Court of City Magistrate found it to be illegally built on the Govt land. The appeal of the Mosque Committee was cancelled. The illegal construction is now being demolished…” On… https://t.co/XDR1xnqOPB pic.twitter.com/gA1BARZiHM — ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) September 5, 2026 To stem potential unrest, a large contingent of police personnel was stationed outside MP Iqra Hasan’s residence overnight. “A large police force was deployed at my Kairana residence overnight, and I was placed under house arrest to prevent me from going to Saharanpur. I intended to visit Saharanpur to meet officials regarding the Collectorate mosque issue and to voice the concerns of the people of my constituency, but I was not even allowed to leave my home,” Hasan was quoted as saying by ANI. Speaking to news agency PTI , Samajwadi Party spokesperson Dharmendra Kumar Singh said, “This is a government that, from the very first day, wants to run away from basic questions and create a narrative of this kind. There is a system in the Indian judiciary and the Constitution of India. The opportunity for justice extends through all the courts, up to the Supreme Court. And once the Supreme Court gives a judgment, it is final. So, what needs to be seen is whether they were given an opportunity to appeal. Everywhere, after an order is passed, there is a period for filing an appeal, one month or some other stipulated period. They have as many days as are allowed to file an appeal and, if there has been an error in the higher court’s order, get it corrected by the court above it. But this government continuously gets orders from the courts and immediately takes action in such a way that it creates hatred in society.” The mosque was declared an “unauthorised structure” in July, and the city magistrate had ordered eviction in 30 days. The court had also penalised the the “illegal occupants” Rs 6.41 crore for the ‘unauthorised occupation’ of the 315-square-metre parcel of government land. The order was passed under the Uttar Pradesh Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1972. Mutwali Tanveer Ahmed, from the masjid committee had claimed the mosque is 150 years old. Earlier, City Magistrate, Saharanpur, Kuldeep Singh had told The Indian Express that proceedings were initiated after the Revenue Department conducted an inquiry into a complaint filed by one Vikas Tyagi, who alleged the mosque had been constructed on government land within the Collectorate campus. In March 2025, a revenue official (Lekhpal) lodged a complaint against Abdul Hamid, the alleged manager and maulvi of the mosque, alleging unauthorised occupation of government property. Notices were issued to the respondents in April 2025 and objections were filed on June 11 of that year. Congress MP from Saharanpur Imran Masood alleged that authorities surrounded people from all sides, confined them inside their homes, and demolished the mosque. He said: “Today is a ‘black day’ for the people of Saharanpur.” He said it’s not just a mosque being demolished — it is a blow being struck upon the country’s Constitution. “We will fight this battle… as far as the High Court, the Supreme Court, wherever we need to,” he said. The MP further said the mosque was established before 1911 and its ownership is still recorded in the names of Wahid Khan and Yaqub Khan [the original zamindari owners under whom the mosque was built]. #WATCH | Saharanpur: Demolition of illegal mosque in DM office complex begins after court upholds order. On this, Congress MP Imran Masood says, “Our people stayed awake all night long. We kept making continuous efforts to contact the officials. Despite providing all the… pic.twitter.com/prP1UdITiY — ANI (@ANI) September 5, 2026 He claimed the process of demolition was flawed, as neither the Waqf nor the Waqf Board was made a party to the case, nor was the Limitation Act taken into account. He said, “No Hindu will be happy with this. No other person will be happy when someone’s place of worship is being demolished.” Masood further alleged that the state government has no achievements of its own to showcase. “The only ‘achievement’ they have is that they shot Muslims, shot them in the leg, demolished their homes, bulldozed them, and broke down their madrassas — that’s all they have. This is the only oppression they can carry out. Besides this, what else do they have?” Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati wrote on X: “The ongoing government campaign in the entire state of UP… which daily declares mosques illegal in great haste and proceeds to demolish them, is not right…”