Karnataka HC orders status quo on Chamrajpet Idgha Maidan issue

Bengaluru: The High Court of Karnataka on Thursday issued an interim order of status quo on the Chamrajpet Idgha Maidan that is in dispute.

The interim order says the over 2-acre land here should be used only as a playground and the Muslim community can use it for prayers only during Bakrid and Ramzan.

The Karnataka State Board of AUQAF and District Waqf Officer, Bengaluru, had challenged the August 7 order of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Joint Commissioner (west).

The BBMP Chief Commissioner had directed the Joint Commissioner (west) to verify the ownership of the land, and the officer had subsequently on August 7 decided that the land belonged to the Revenue Department.

The original property dispute dates back to 1955 and the Supreme Court had ruled in favour of the Waqf in 1965.

The decades-old dispute over Idgah Maidan had once again come to the fore earlier this year, when some Hindu outfits sought BBMP’s permission to hold events there.

This resulted in two contrary sets of documents emerging — the Karnataka State Board of Auqaf presented a 1965 gazette notifying the land as Wakf property and the 1974 City Survey records and all other civic records thereafter showed the land to be a playground.

In the meantime, following the BBMP order, several Hindu organisations announced they would celebrate Independence Day on the ground. Also, local Congress MLA B Z Zameer Ahmed Khan had announced they would go ahead and hoist the tricolour on the ground.

However, the State Revenue Department organised the Independence Day event and an assistant commissioner-rank official hoisted the flag on August 15 for the first time at the Idgah maidan.

Meanwhile, a few Hindu organisations demanded to celebrate Ganesha Chaturthi at the playground.