The Supreme Court on Thursday (December 18, 2025) refused to hear the petition filed against the land acquisition proceedings taken to increase the space of parking area of Mahakal Lok Complex in Ujjain. The petition said that the land of Takiya Masjid has been acquired to increase the parking area.
This petition was filed against the January 11 order of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, on which the bench of Justice Vikramnath and Justice Sandeep Mehta questioned why the decision was challenged instead of taking over the acquisition proceedings. The court said that the petitioners are not the owners of the land, hence they do not have the right to question the acquisition proceedings. The court said that the acquisition notifications were not challenged, complaints were made against the decision, even though an alternative statutory solution was available.
During the hearing on Thursday, lawyer Hufaiza Ahmadi, appearing for the petitioner, said that the mandatory provision of social impact assessment before starting the land acquisition proceedings was not followed in this case. The bench said on his plea, ‘You are just an occupier.’ The court said that the petitioner was not the owner of the land.
Advocate Hufaiza Ahmadi replied that the petitioner still has the right to question the acquisition on the grounds of illegality. Citing Articles 4 and 8 of the Constitution, he said that assessing social impact during acquisition is a mandatory provision. However, the court did not agree with his arguments and refused to hear the petition. The court asked the lawyer that the same question still remains as to why the acquisition proceedings were not challenged and the decision is being challenged.
Earlier, Madhya Pradesh High Court in its order had rejected the petition filed against the land acquisition proceedings. In this proceeding, the mosque was removed, on which another petition was filed on 7 November requesting directions for the reconstruction of the mosque, which was rejected by the Supreme Court.
Takiya Masjid, established about 200 years ago, was removed in January after the related land was acquired. The authorities had started the land acquisition process to expand the parking lot of Mahakal Lok Complex.
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