SC orders status quo on Idgah Maidan at Bengaluru, no Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations to be held

|HT|

No Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations will be held at Idgah Maidan in Bengaluru as the Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered status quo on the Idgah land.

A three-judge bench of the top court passed the order on a petition filed by Karnataka Wakf Board and Central Muslim Association of Karnataka challenging an order of August 26 of Karnataka high court allowing the state government to organise the religious function on August 30 and 31.

The SC said that for 200 years there was no such function organised and the land in question was stated to belong to the Wakf Board and ordered that the status quo be maintained.

The court said other issued raised in the petition will be decided by the high court and disposed the appeal.

Meanwhile, a flag march was conducted by security personnel at the Idgah Maidan in Chamarajpet, Bengaluru

Earlier in the day, Chief Justice of India UU Lalit referred the matter to the three-judge bench of Indira Banerjee, AS Oka and MM Sundresh after Justices Hemant Gupta and Sudhanshu Dhulia failed to reach a consensus on the issue.

The Basavaj Bommai-led BJP government in the southern state earlier informed the top court that it had allowed religious and cultural activities for a limited period from August 31.

Kapil Sibal, arguing on behalf the Waqf Board, told the top court the order of a division bench of the Karnataka HC would create unnecessary tension.

The Idgah Maidan has been at the centre of a controversy over its ownership between the Waqf Board and the city administrative body – the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). Earlier this month, it was said the property belonged to the revenue department.

(Except for the headline and the pictorial description, this story has not been edited by THE DEN staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)