Gujarat HC issues contempt notice to Junagadh municipal officials for demolishing dargah

The Gujarat High Court on Friday issued a contempt notice to former Junagadh Municipal Commissioner Om Prakash and Senior Town Planner Vivek Kiran Parekh for allegedly acting in defiance of a Supreme Court order and a state government policy by demolishing an old dargah in April.

The court asked the officials to respond to the notice by July 28, when the matter will be heard next.

The Jok Alisha Dargah in Junagadh was demolished on April 17 despite a pending legal case and submissions by the dargah’s trustee citing the site’s historical and religious significance, The Indian Express reported. The shrine is claimed to be 300 years old.

A division bench of Justices AS Supehia and RT Vachhani observed that the civic officials appeared to have acted in violation of the Supreme Court’s 2018 order regarding the handling of unauthorised religious structures as well as a subsequent policy of the state government.

The High Court pointed out that the Supreme Court had ordered that no unauthorised religious structure should be allowed on public property and that existing ones should be reviewed on case-by-case basis. A 2024 state government policy requires officials to form committees and appoint nodal officers to handle such cases properly, the petitioner had argued.

Despite this, the senior town planner issued a notice...

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