Taj Mahal Needs To Be Protected: SC Rejects Plea

Challenging Ban On Namaz By Outsiders In Monument’s

Mosque
JULY 9, 2018

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to overturn a ban on

outsiders entering the Taj Mahal complex in Agra for namaz or
Friday prayers, asserting that the monument is among the
seven wonders of the world and hence, needs to be protected.
According to a PTI report, the Bench comprising Justice A.K.
Sikri and Justice Ashok Bhushan opined that there are several
other mosques in Agra where those from outside the town
could offer prayers.
“This (Taj Mahal) is one of the Seven Wonders of the World and
we do not want this to decimate. We are dismissing it (plea)…
There are other mosques also.
They can offer their prayers there,” the bench was quoted as
saying. The District Administration had, on 24 January this year,
ordered that only locals with valid identity proof will be allowed
to enter the Taj Mahal complex to offer namaz on Fridays.
To this end, those entering the Taj premises for offering
prayers on Fridays were directed to carry their identity cards in
order to prove that they are residents of the city.
The order was reportedly issued following complaints that
outsiders, including Bangladeshis and non-Indians, were
entering the Taj complex on Fridays on the pretext of offering
namaz.
The Court was now hearing a petition filed by Syed Ibrahim
Hussain Zaidi, President of Taj Mahal Masjid Management
Committee, Agra, challenging this order as being illegal and
arbitrary.
He had inter alia alleged violation of Article 14 of the
Constitution of India, asserting that the impugned order
arbitrarily differentiated between city residents and non-
residents.