Delhi HC issues notice on PIL challenging state's payment policy for Imams, Muezzins

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court has issued notices on a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging the Delhi government's utilisation of the state's consolidated fund to disburse salaries and honorarium to Imams and Muezzins of both the Delhi Waqf Board and Non-Waqf Board.

A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora has issued notices to the Delhi Government, its Finance and Planning departments, and the Delhi Waqf Board, seeking their responses.

The PIL, filed by Rukmani Singh, a lawyer and social activist, seeks to restrain the Delhi government and the Waqf Board from utilising the consolidated fund to pay salaries or remuneration to the Imams and Muezzins.

The court, acknowledging the significance of the matter, has scheduled it for hearing in July.

Furthermore, upon an oral request made by the Delhi Government's standing counsel, Santosh Kumar Tripathi, the bench has impleaded the Delhi Government's Revenue department as a party respondent in the PIL.

Singh's plea argues that the state's practice of providing honorarium to specific individuals of a particular religious community without considering the financial status of individuals in other religious communities violates the secular essence of the State and infringes upon various articles of the Constitution of India, including Articles 14, 15(1), and 27, as well as sections 266 and 282.

The PIL draws upon a Supreme Court ruling in the All India Imam Organisation v. Union of India, emphasizing the Waqf Board's responsibility to utilize resources to compensate Imams for their crucial role in leading community prayers in mosques.

In the light of these arguments, the plea contends that the state's actions are contrary to constitutional principles and the Supreme Court's directives, asserting that payments from the consolidated fund should not be allocated to a specific religious sect.