The Race Course Mosque near the Prime Minister’s residence in New Delhi has been declared unauthorised by the Land and Development Office, which has directed that the premises be vacated within six days and disconnected its electricity and water supplies, according to a report by Jagran – New Delhi.
The administration’s position, as reported, is that the property stands on government land. The site, however, has been represented as a waqf property, creating a dispute over its legal status and the authority under which the premises is being occupied.
The action has prompted the Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind to seek the Union government’s intervention. A delegation led by the organisation’s general secretary, Maulana Muhammad Hakimuddin Qasmi, met Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju and submitted a memorandum on behalf of Jamiat president Maulana Mahmood Madani.
The memorandum described the mosque and the adjoining cemetery as having historical and religious significance. Jamiat claimed that the site appears on the New Delhi Municipal Council’s heritage list, citing the 1977 Delhi Gazette, and is also included in a revised list of the Ministry of Minority Affairs.
The organisation has asked the minister to obtain reports from the Delhi Waqf Board and the NDMC before any further action is taken. It has also sought a halt to demolition or other coercive steps until the complete legal process is followed. The memorandum requested the restoration of electricity and water services and arrangements to ensure the movement of worshippers to the site.
The dispute brings together several administrative questions that are central to Delhi’s built environment: the ownership and permitted use of land in a high-security central city zone, the status of properties claimed as waqf assets, and the legal weight of heritage listings. The available report does not include the text of the notice, the relevant land records, or an independent confirmation of the heritage-list entries.
The reported utility disconnections have also added an immediate public-service dimension to the dispute. Electricity and water supply are being treated as part of the administrative action while the six-day period for vacating the premises runs its course. The report does not specify whether a court has issued any order concerning the notice or whether demolition has been scheduled.
Rijiju, according to the report, heard the delegation’s demands and assured it that he would make every possible effort in the matter. The next steps are expected to involve the Delhi Waqf Board, the NDMC and the Land and Development Office, whose records will determine how the competing claims over the site are addressed.
