PIL in Madras High Court challenges Coimbatore Collector's NOC to a new mosque
A public interest litigation (PIL) petition has been filed in the Madras High Court to quash a No Objection Certificate (NOC) issued by the Coimbatore Collector on December 3, 2024 for the functioning of a newly-constructed mosque at Kuniyamuthur in Coimbatore city.
The PIL petition is expected to be listed for hearing before a summer vacation Bench of Justices N. Mala and G. Arul Murugan on Wednesday. R. Prabakaran, an office-bearer of Hindu Munnani, had filed the petition in his personal capacity.
In his affidavit, the petitioner stated that Grace Charitable Trust had constructed a mosque titled Masjid-e-Hira at Kuniyamurthur to Sundakkamuthur Road without obtaining an NOC from the Collector as required under the law. Hence, he submitted representations to the police as well as the Collector in March 2024.
He had also filed a writ petition in the High Court last year seeking a direction to the Collector to conduct an inquiry regarding the illegal construction and prevent it from being used as a mosque. The court had ordered notice to the officials on June 11, 2024 and the writ petition was still pending.
In the meantime, the Collector had considered an application filed by the management of the mosque in March 2024 and granted the NOC in December 2024. In his proceedings, the Collector had stated to have taken the decision on the basis of reports received from the Commissioner of Police and the Coimbatore South Revenue Divisional Officer.
The Commissioner had said that the law and order intelligence branch of the city police had no objection to the functioning of the mosque in the locality. Similarly, the RDO had stated that 90% of the residents in the locality were Muslims and that 150 people from nearby localities would also be using the mosque for prayers. He also opined that the mosque may not lead to law and order problems.
After considering both the reports, the Collector had granted the NOC on condition that the mosque should not cause hindrance to the day-to-day lives of the common people, obtain building plan approval from the Coimbatore Corporation, should not use cone speakers, not cause trafic jams due to parking of vehicles on the road, and not create any kind of law and order problem.
Assailing the Collector's proceedings, the petitioner claimed that there were no Muslim residents in the locality and that the mosque had been constructed only for outsiders. 'Because of the unruly behaviour of the outsiders coming to the mosque in our area, the public peace and tranquility is being disturbed,' he said.
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