Uttarakhand HC Dismisses State's Appeal As 'Not Pressed' Against Single-Judge Order Permitting Eid Namaz At Nainital Ground
A Division bench of Uttarakhand High Court on Friday dismissed as 'not pressed' a Special Appeal filed by the state challenging a Single Judge's order permitting the offering of Eid-ul-Azha (Bakrid) Namaz at Nainital's famous Gymkhana and District Sports Association field.
When the matter came up for a hearing on May 29 before a Bench of Chief Justice Manoj Kumar Gupta and Justice Subhash Upadhyay, Standing Counsel BPS Mer, appearing for the state, submitted that he was not pressing the appeal. The plea was thus dismissed.
Notably, the appeal was taken up for hearing after the scheduled religious congregation had already concluded on May 28. This rendered the State's appeal practically infructuous.
For context, the Special Appeal challenged a May 27 order passed by Justice Pankaj Purohit. The Single Judge had allowed the offering of Namaz 'peacefully' at 'The Flatts' ground on May 28 from 09:00 A.M. to 10:00 A.М
The single judge had also directed the administration and police officers to strictly maintain law and order as required.
The May 27 order was passed on a petition moved by the Anjuman Islamia Nainital acting through its Secretary, Sri Jamal, challenging a cancellation letter issued by the respondent No. 6 (Nainital Gymkhana and Districts Sports Association), which manages the ground in question, refusing to allow the petitioner-Society and its members to offer Namaz at the ground.
Before the single judge, the petitioner society had contended that Namaz has been offered continuously for the last 100 years, and it has never created any law and order situation in Nainital.
It was also submitted that this is the first time the petitioner Society had been refused permission to offer Namaz at the said ground.
On the other hand, the district administration submitted that the ground is situated in one of the busiest areas of the city, and that, due to the tourist season, around 50,000 tourists are arriving every day.
It was further submitted that permitting the offering of Namaz at the said place may create a law and order situation and adversely affect the communal harmony of the town, as the Hindu Temple and Gurudwara are also located adjoining the flats.
However, the Court took cognizance of the fact that Namaz has always been offered for the last 100 years at the ground with communal harmony, and there was no information regarding any untoward situation having been created so far in Nainital during Eid-UI-Azha.
In view of this, the bench had allowed the petitioner, the Society, and its Members to offer Namaz peacefully at the said place for an hour.