Krishi Bhawan mosque: Centre tells HC it plans removal, hearing 23 Nov

Representative image. Anil Kaushik, CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons

Why it matters

The case decides what happens to a prayer place used for decades by people working in Krishi Bhawan and nearby central offices, as the old buildings are replaced under Central Vista. The judge has also asked whether any rule bars prayer space for any community in government complexes, a question put to the government's senior law officer.

The Krishi Bhawan mosque in New Delhi, known as Qadeemi Masjid, stands on land needed for new government office buildings and has to be removed, the Centre has told the Delhi High Court. The mosque’s caretaking committee, which went to court in September, wants the structure kept or a nearby prayer space provided. Justice Anish Dayal heard the case on 2 November 2026 and listed it again for 23 November.

The Centre’s position is set out in a status report filed through the Land and Development Office (L&DO), an office under the Union Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs. LiveLaw, Bar and Bench and The Indian Express reported its contents on 3 November. NewsPlainly has not seen the report itself, so this article relies on their accounts and on the court’s earlier order.

What the Centre told the court about the Krishi Bhawan mosque

According to LiveLaw, the L&DO said the mosque sits on Plot No. 120, Dr Rajendra Prasad Road, on land owned by the Government of India. Its case is that an agreement signed in 1940 allowed the mosque’s managers to occupy the site only with permission, which gave them no ownership. The Times of India reported the same point about the 1940 arrangement.

The site is needed, the report says, for Common Central Secretariat (CCS) buildings 4 and 5, new office blocks for the central secretariat planned under the Central Vista redevelopment project. The Indian Express reported that the report is dated 27 October and calls the construction “a public project of paramount national importance”.

The government also argued that Krishi Bhawan and the secretariat complex exist only for official work. All three legal reports quote the same line: keeping a permanent religious structure inside a central government office complex would be “incompatible with the secular character of Government property”, in the report’s words. LiveLaw reported that the L&DO said removal would not breach Article 25 of the Constitution, which protects the freedom to practise religion, because nobody has a right to insist on praying at one particular spot on government land held on permission.

On an alternative, the Centre pointed to Shahi Masjid Zabta Ganj near India Gate, which it said is within 2 km and fully working. It told the court it cannot be made to set aside separate space for the mosque inside the Krishi Bhawan compound or the wider secretariat complex, according to LiveLaw and The Indian Express.

What the Qadeemi Masjid committee is asking for

The committee’s petition, numbered W.P.(C) 13664/2026, is summed up in the High Court’s order of 17 September 2026. It asks for three things, in order. First, that the authorities not demolish or disturb the mosque without a fair and reasoned look at keeping it. Second, that they study whether it can stay where it is while the project goes ahead. Third, only if keeping it is truly not possible, that a reasonable and nearby prayer facility be provided.

Senior advocate Salman Khurshid, appearing for the committee, told the court the petitioners do not want the redevelopment stalled, the order records. He said paragraph 26 of the petition states they have no objection to the Central Vista project and seek no delay in building the new secretariat. They accept that the land under the mosque belongs to the government, the order notes.

The committee’s case for Qadeemi Masjid rests on its history and its use. According to the order, the petitioners say the mosque is more than a century old, older than the offices around it, with records going back to 1945. They say the Delhi Waqf Board notified it as Waqf property, meaning land dedicated for religious or charitable use under Islamic law, in 1970. They add that Muslim employees of Krishi Bhawan, Shastri Bhawan and nearby offices built in the 1950s and 1960s have prayed there for decades.

Both sides at a glance

The two positions, set side by side from the court order and the reports of the status report:

Question	Mosque committee (petition)	Centre (status report)
Who owns the land?	Accepts it is government land	Government land; 1940 agreement gave only permission to occupy
Central Vista project	No objection, seeks no delay	Mosque stands on the site of CCS buildings 4 and 5
Keep the mosque?	Asks the authorities to consider keeping it	Must be removed for the project
Prayer space	Alternative nearby facility if removal is unavoidable	Cannot be compelled to set aside space; points to Shahi Masjid Zabta Ganj
Article 25	Seeks continuity of prayer under Article 25	Says no right under Article 25 is breached

What the judge asked at the 2 November hearing

The Delhi High Court has not ruled on whether Qadeemi Masjid goes. At the hearing, Justice Dayal asked the government whether any rule says no space for prayer may be given to any community in a government complex, Bar and Bench and The Indian Express reported. The Indian Express quoted him as saying he was making an observation and wanted to understand the legal basis and impact of the stand. He asked central government counsel Nishant Gautam to pass the question to the Additional Solicitor General (ASG), the government’s senior law officer in the case.

The committee was given time to reply to the status report before the next date, The Indian Express reported. The reports read by NewsPlainly describe no interim order on demolition at this hearing.

How the Central Vista case reached this point

The Krishi Bhawan mosque dispute has built up over five years, alongside the wider Central Vista works. Key dates from the court record and reports:

• December 2021: In a Delhi Waqf Board plea on six mosques in the Central Vista area, including this one, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the court nothing was happening to those properties, The Indian Express reported.
• 19 January 2026: The Central Public Works Department (CPWD) floated a tender for CCS buildings 4 and 5 on the Krishi Bhawan and Shastri Bhawan site, according to The Indian Express.
• 17 September 2026: The High Court issued notice to the Union government, the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) and the Delhi Waqf Board, and gave them four weeks to respond.
• 27 October 2026: Date of the L&DO status report seeking the mosque’s removal, as reported by The Indian Express.
• 2 November 2026: Hearing before Justice Dayal; questions to the government on rules for prayer space.
• 23 November 2026: Next hearing.

For more court news from Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR), see NewsPlainly’s Delhi NCR page.

What happens next in the Delhi High Court

The petition is listed on 23 November 2026. The committee has been given until then to respond to the status report, and the judge asked government counsel to put his question on rules for prayer space to the ASG. The reports read give no date for removing the mosque or for pulling down Krishi Bhawan. The September order also named the NDMC and the Delhi Waqf Board as respondents; the reports read do not set out what either has filed.

For people who work in Krishi Bhawan and the offices around it, the practical question is where those who prayed at the mosque will pray once Krishi Bhawan and Shastri Bhawan make way for the new buildings. That is the issue the court has been asked to decide, and it has not done so yet.

Frequently asked questions

Why does the Centre want the Krishi Bhawan mosque removed?

Its status report says the mosque stands on the site of Common Central Secretariat buildings 4 and 5 under Central Vista, that the land is government property, and that a permanent religious structure does not fit a government office complex.

Does the mosque committee oppose Central Vista?

No. According to the High Court's 17 September 2026 order, its lawyer said the petition seeks no delay in the project and asks only for the mosque to be kept or a nearby prayer facility provided.

Has the Delhi High Court ordered the demolition?

No. The reports of the 2 November hearing describe questions from Justice Anish Dayal and a new date, 23 November, but no ruling on removal.

How old is Qadeemi Masjid?

The petitioners say it is more than a century old, with records going back to 1945, and that the Delhi Waqf Board notified it as Waqf property in 1970.