The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a plea seeking to celebrate the Urs festival from February 1 to 3 at a demolished dargah in Gujarat’s Somnath Gir district after the state government told the court that even temples were razed as part of the anti-encroachment drive on the government land.

A bench of Justices B.R. Gavai and George Masih was dealing with an interlocutory application filed by Pir Haji Shah Mangroli Darah, which claimed that the festival had been held at the disputed site for several decades.

However, solicitor-general Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Gujarat government, opposed the plea and said no activities, including Hindu religious rituals, were allowed on the land that was encroached upon earlier.

Mehta denied allegations of religious discrimination during the demolition drive.

“Across religions whatever was unauthorised, we have removed. Out of the demolished structures, there are a significant number of properties belonging to the Hindu community,” Mehta told the bench.

After hearing the arguments, the bench said no interim relief for the conduct of Urs could be granted without hearing all sides on the main petition in the matter.

On October 25, a bench headed by Justice Gavai had recorded an undertaking from the Gujarat government that it would not allot to “any third party” certain disputed plots of land in Gir Somnath district where the government had demolished several alleged illegal properties, including mosques and dargahs.

The bench, which included Justice K.V. Viswanathan, had passed the order while dealing with a petition filed by the Auliya-e-Deen Committee which alleged that the authorities in Gujarat had wilfully razed mosques and dargahs on September 28 despite two apex court orders on September 17 and October 1 staying the demolition of illegal properties across the country.

The Gujarat government had told the court that there were documents to prove that the properties were under the control of the Somnath Trust.

Poll footage

The Supreme Court on Friday asked the Election Commission to continue preserving CCTV footage of polling during the pendency of a plea against the decision to increase the maximum number of voters per polling station from 1,200 to 1,500, which would allegedly cause a huge inconvenience and lead to serpentine queue and waste of time.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar passed the order after the EC counsel sought time to respond tothe PIL.

“The counsel appearing for Respondent No.1 (EC) prays for further time to file a counter affidavit in compliance with the order dated December 2, 2024. Let the same be filed within three weeks. Rejoinder if any to be filed within three weeks thereafter…Meanwhile, we deem it appropriate to direct Respondent No. 1 to maintain CCTV footage as they were doing earlier,” the bench said in an order.

Data on Rohingyas

The Supreme Court on Friday sought details about Rohingya settlements in Delhi from an NGO and the facilities accessible to them.

“File an affidavit explaining as to where exactly they are staying… whether in government camps or residential areas, in which pockets they are living,” a bench of Justices Surya Kant and N. Kotiswar Singh asked the Rohingya Human Rights Initiative after it complained that the refugees had been denied all basic facilities because of the lack of Aadhaar and other ID cards.