A mosque located inside the Saharanpur Collectorate campus in Uttar Pradesh was demolished on Saturday morning after authorities proceeded with an earlier order declaring the structure an unauthorised construction on government land. A heavy police deployment was put in place around the site during the demolition to prevent any disruption to law and order.
The action followed a September 4 order of the District Judge’s court, which dismissed an appeal filed by the mosque management committee and upheld the earlier decision of the City Magistrate. The City Magistrate had declared the structure unauthorised in July and ordered its removal. The proceedings were initiated under the Uttar Pradesh Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1972.
Saharanpur DIG Abhishek Singh said the administration was acting in accordance with the court orders. “There was a mosque here at the Saharanpur Collectorate. The court of the city magistrate found it to be illegally constructed on government land. The appeal [against the demolition] of the Mosque Committee was cancelled,” he said. “We have taken all preventive steps to maintain law and order. We are following all legal procedures in taking this action.”
According to the administration, the mosque occupied around 315 square metres of government land. The July order also imposed a penalty of ₹6.41 crore on those described as unauthorised occupants for the alleged occupation of the government property. The mosque committee, however, had maintained that the structure was around 150 years old. Proceedings reportedly began after a Revenue Department inquiry into a complaint alleging that the mosque had been built on government land. A revenue official filed a complaint against the alleged manager and maulvi of the mosque in March 2025, following which notices were issued and objections were submitted.
The demolition has drawn criticism from opposition leaders.
Samajwadi Party MP Iqra Hasan alleged that she was placed under house arrest at her Kairana residence to prevent her from travelling to Saharanpur and meeting officials over the issue. “A large police force was deployed at my Kairana residence overnight, and I was placed under house arrest to prevent me from going to Saharanpur,” Hasan was quoted as saying. “I intended to visit Saharanpur to meet officials regarding the Collectorate mosque issue and to voice the concerns of the people of my constituency, but I was not even allowed to leave my home.”
Congress MP Imran Masood described the demolition as a “black day for the people of Saharanpur” and said the issue would be challenged legally. “It’s not just a mosque being demolished — it is a blow being struck upon the country’s Constitution,” he said, adding, “We will fight this battle… as far as the High Court, the Supreme Court, wherever we need to.” Samajwadi Party spokesperson Dharmendra Kumar Singh also questioned the manner in which the action was carried out, arguing that legal avenues of appeal must be allowed to run their course.
BSP chief Mayawati, meanwhile, criticised what she described as a wider campaign in Uttar Pradesh in which mosques were being declared illegal and demolished “in great haste”.
