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The Supreme Court adjourned the hearing on the plea related to the alleged demolition drive in the Gir Somnath district of Gujarat on Monday.
A bench of justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan adjourned the hearing till December 2 after the Gujarat Government submission that they will reply to the petitioner plea. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta for Gujarat Government said that they are filing the reply and it will be filed by today. Thereafter the top court posted the matter in December. The top court was hearing Summast Patni Musslim Jamat petition filed through advocate Anas Tanwir which sought to initiate contempt proceedings against Gujarat authorities for wilful and deliberate contravention of the Order dated September 17. The Gujarat Government earlier assured the top court that the lands, where demolitions of structures conducted in Gir Somnath, would not be allotted to any third parties till the next date of hearing. Besides Jamat, Auliya-e-Deen Committee, Junagadh has also filed the plea challenging Gujarat High Court order refusing to stay the demolition drive in the Somnath. The Supreme Court in the early hearing refused to stay the demolition but clarified that if they find there is contempt of its order in this matter then it will not only send the alleged erring officials to jail but also order to restore the structure. On September 17 the top court directed that till the next date of hearing, there shall be no demolition anywhere across the country without seeking leave of this court. However, on September 17 the court clarified that its order would not be applicable if there is an unauthorized structure in any public place such as road, street, footpath, abutting railway line or any river body or water bodies and also to cases where there is an order for demolition made by a Court of law. The organisation said that Gujarat authorities have carried out an early morning illegal demolition of centuries old Muslim religious places of worship including mosques, eidgahs, dargahs, mausoleums and residential places of Mutawallis of the said dargahs on 28.09.2024 without issuing any notices for such demolition and without granting any opportunity of hearing. (ANI)
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