Jaipur: The Rajasthan High Court has dismissed a batch of petitions challenging the proposed demolition of several mosques, madrasas, and dargahs situated within 50 kilometers of the India Pakistan border. Emphasizing that national security remains paramount, the court strongly refused to halt the eviction proceedings against these unauthorized religious structures.
Presiding over the case, Justice Sameer Jain observed that the administrative notices were issued purely for regulatory compliance and border security. The court firmly rejected allegations of religious discrimination. This action directly follows a Union Home Ministry directive that expanded the operational jurisdiction of the Border Security Force up to 50 kilometers inside the international border. The central government took this crucial step to effectively counter infiltration, smuggling, and other immediate threats to national sovereignty.
During the extensive hearings, the state government argued that nearly 180 such religious structures had been illegally constructed on sensitive government land. The authorities highlighted that the builders never obtained the mandatory statutory permissions required under the state religious buildings laws. On the other hand, the petitioners claimed that the demolition drive violated the principles of natural justice and unfairly targeted a specific minority community. The proposed administrative actions had already triggered a massive political row across the state in June, with several prominent opposition leaders accusing the ruling government of deliberate bias.
However, the High Court noted that the petitioners had completely failed to participate in the legal process after receiving the initial show cause notices from the authorities. The judge stated that when the overall security of the nation is at stake, the strict rigidity of procedural laws must yield to the absolute necessity of territorial protection. The court explicitly clarified that the eviction notices were issued uniformly against all unauthorized permanent constructions in the highly sensitive border zone, regardless of the religious community involved.
While officially rejecting the pleas, the court ensured a balanced and lawful approach moving forward. The judicial bench directed the state government to immediately constitute a special committee comprising the local District Collector, the Superintendent of Police, and a designated senior representative of the Border Security Force. This newly formed panel will carefully evaluate every single case based on classified intelligence inputs and factual documentary evidence before recommending any final eviction or demolition action in the border districts.