KALYAN: After 48 years, the Kalyan civil court Tuesday dismissed a suit filed by a Muslim trust claiming ownership of an idgah (prayer space) inside the historical Durgadi Fort in Kalyan and ruled in favour of the state govt.
Civil judge senior division A S Lanjewar said it is determined that the trust’s claim was invalid as it failed to file the lawsuit within the three-year window after the alleged dispossession, which is required by the Limitation Act. The suit was subsequently deemed barred by limitations.
The legal battle over the ownership of the Durgadi temple and idgah situated in Durgadi Fort has been underway since 1976 when Majlish-e-Mushavreen Majjid Trust filed the suit.
A civil court on Tuesday rejected the petition made by the Muslim community on Durgadi prayer space and declared it as the land of the Thane collector (govt of Maharashtra). The trust authorities did not respond to a query if it would appeal against the order.
This dispute was first raised in Maharashtra by the late Balasaheb Thackeray. It was later raised by the Shiv Shiv Sena functionaries – the late Anand Dighe and Eknath Shinde.
After the dismissal of the Muslim trust’s claims, leaders of Hindu organisations fighting the case, as well as Shiv Sena, Bharatiya Janata Party, and Sena UBT leaders, expressed happiness over the court’s decision. Since Durgadi Fort is historical and ancient, the Maharashtra govt in 1971 declared it as a heritage property. With this, the possession, occupation, and ownership of the Durgadi Fort will remain with the state govt.
The trust wanted the govt to declare the Durgadi idgah and temple as its property, saying it was actively used for prayers by the local Muslim community until 1968.
At that time, the govt leased the premises to the Kalyan municipal council, according to the suit. Shri Durgadi Devi Utsav Samiti Kalyan and some Hindu citizens of Kalyan city joined as the defendants by filing an application in the civil court.
Meanwhile, in 2018, the Muslim trust filed an application in the Kalyan civil court to transfer this claim to the Waqf Board, Aurangabad (Sambhajinagar), claiming the right to make decisions on their claims comes under the Waqf board. The Magistrate’s Court passed an order on the said application and rejected their claim to transfer the case to the Waqf Board.
Dinesh Deshmukh, president of Hindu Manch, claims that available records show that there is a Durga temple on the Durgadi fort, and what Muslims call idgah is actually the wall of the fort.
BJP MLA Ravindra Chavan at a press conference, said he is hopeful that in the coming days, the state govt will implement the court’s order on the matter.
Local functionaries of Shiv Sena and Sena UBT also welcomed the decision, claiming credit for the favourable outcome of the legal battle since the claim was first made by the late Balasaheb Thackeray.