A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar also sought the response of Delhi Waqf Board on the plea which sought to stop the practice of referring imams of the other mosques as'Shahi'.
The Delhi High Court issued a notice to the Ministry of Minority Affairs on Thursday after an application was filed seeking to restrain the Waqf Board from using the title 'Shahi Imam' for Jama Masjid's Imam, Maulana Syed Ahmed Bukhari.
A bench of Acting Chief Justice Gita Mittal and Justice C Hari Shankar also sought the response of Delhi Waqf Board on the plea which sought to stop the practice of referring imams of the other mosques as'Shahi'.
The court's direction came after an application, seeking removal of the title 'Shahi Imam', was moved in pending PILs that sought directions to the authorities to declare the historic Mughal-era Jama Masjid here as a protected monument and remove all encroachments in and around it.
The plea, filed by Ajay Gautam, also sought to restrain Syed Ahmed Bukhari and other persons from using the title of 'Shahi Imam', working under the control and supervision of the Delhi Wakf Board for any purpose or business.
"Shahi Imam means an officer appointed by the shah (emperor). Now, the Delhi Waqf Board is neither appointing a Shahi Imam nor maintaining any such record," the application said.
The Centre sought more time to place the documents regarding its decision that the Jama Masjid should not be declared a protected monument.
The bench agreed to this but directed the Centre to positively place the documents on the next date of hearing, i.e, February 27.
The court had sought the records after it had noted that in 2005 too, the Ministry of Culture was asked by it to produce the records.
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