The Allahabad High Court has directed authorities in Budaun to refrain from disrupting prayers being held at a mosque situated within privately owned property, reinforcing that religious gatherings conducted on private premises cannot be restricted without legal basis.
The direction came from a Division Bench comprising Justice Shekhar B. Saraf and Justice Vivek Saran, while hearing a plea from a property owner who complained that officials were obstructing the offering of namaz at Waqf Masjid Raza, located on a portion of his land.
After examining the matter, the Bench aligned itself with an earlier ruling of a coordinate bench which had clarified that the law does not prohibit religious prayer meetings conducted within private property. Agreeing with that reasoning, the Court directed the authorities not to interfere with prayers taking place within the petitioners’ premises.
The petition had sought protection for the petitioner, his family members, and members of the local Muslim community to continue offering namaz peacefully at the mosque without administrative obstruction.
During the hearing, the petitioners relied on a prior decision delivered in January by a bench led by Justice Atul Sreedharan in Maranatha Full Gospel Ministries vs State of Uttar Pradesh, where the Court had recognised that religious assemblies inside private property cannot be barred in the absence of a specific legal prohibition.
Relying on that precedent, the Court granted relief to the petitioner. At the same time, it clarified that authorities remain free to act if any disturbance arises in public areas. Should a law-and-order issue occur on public roads or government property nearby, the police may intervene and take appropriate measures in accordance with the law.
