Uttarakhand HC Grants Anjuman Islamia Permission to Offer Namaz at Nainital's Flates on Bakrid, Overriding Last-Minute Cancellation

Justice Pankaj Purohit granted a one-hour Namaz window at the Gymkhana ground in Nainital for Eid-Ul-Azha, citing 100 years of uninterrupted practice and no prior law-and-order incidents.

On 27 May 2026, Justice Pankaj Purohit of the High Court of Uttarakhand at Nainital, sitting singly through video conference, permitted Anjuman Islamia Nainital and its members to offer Namaz at the Gymkhana and Districts Sports Association field in Nainital—locally known as the “flates”—on 28 May 2026 between 9:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m., the occasion of Eid-Ul-Azha (Bakrid). The order came in WPM No. 1584 of 2026, filed by the petitioner-Society to quash a cancellation letter dated 25 May 2026 issued by respondent No. 6, which had refused the Society permission to use the flates for Namaz. The State's objections, centred on tourist footfall and proximity of a Hindu temple and Gurudwara, did not persuade the court given the century-long history of peaceful observance at the same ground.

The Cancellation That Prompted the Writ

The petitioner-Society filed WPM No. 1584 of 2026 seeking two reliefs: quashing of the cancellation letter dated 25 May 2026 (Annexure No. 5 to the writ petition) and a direction to respondents to permit Namaz at the flates on Bakrid from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.

Counsel for the petitioner, Mr. Jitendra Chaudhary and Mr. Suhail A. Siddiqui, argued that Namaz had been offered continuously at the flates for the last 100 years without any law-and-order incident in Nainital. They submitted that this was the first time the Society had been refused permission to use the ground.

When the matter was taken up in the pre-lunch session, the court directed the State Counsel to seek instructions on what had happened to a representation the Society had moved before the District Magistrate, Nainital on 26 May 2026—received in the Collector's office the same day. The matter was then placed at 2:30 p.m.

The State's Position and the SDM's Rejection

By the afternoon session, the State Counsel had obtained instructions from the District Magistrate, Nainital. Those instructions, taken on record by the court, stated that the flates is one of the busiest areas of Nainital and that approximately 50,000 tourists visit the town every day during the tourist season.

The State argued that permitting the Society to offer Namaz at the flates could create a law-and-order situation and adversely affect communal harmony, pointing to the presence of a Hindu temple and a Gurudwara adjoining the flates.

The State Counsel further informed the court that the Society's representation had been rejected by the Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Nainital on 27 May 2026 itself—the very day the matter was being heard. The court noted that the Society could challenge that order dated 27 May 2026 by moving an appropriate application in the same writ petition.

The Waqf Board Letter and What It Actually Said

Counsel for the petitioner also brought to the court's notice a letter dated 25 May 2026 issued by the Chairman, Uttarakhand Waqf Board, forwarded to all Mutavalli and Committees of Management across Uttarakhand State.

Justice Purohit read the letter and found that it did not prohibit offering Namaz in a field or playground. The letter, as the court recorded, spoke only of prohibiting Namaz on public roads, streets, and in places that would affect the flow of traffic. The flates—a sports ground—did not fall within that prohibition.

This reading of the Waqf Board's own circular materially weakened the basis on which the cancellation had been issued.

The Court's Reasoning

Justice Purohit took cognisance of two facts: first, that Namaz had always been offered at the flates for the last 100 years; and second, that there was no information before the court of any untoward situation having been created in Nainital during any previous Eid-Ul-Azha.

Against those facts, the State's apprehension of communal disharmony was speculative. The court held that the petitioner-Society and its members deserved permission to offer Namaz peacefully at the flates on 28 May 2026 from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.

The court added that the administration and police officers were required to maintain law and order strictly during the period.

The Special Appeal: State Does Not Press

Separately, Special Appeal No. 203 of 2026 was listed before a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Manoj Kumar Gupta and Justice Subhash Upadhyay on 29 May 2026. Mr. B.P.S. Mer, learned Standing Counsel for the State of Uttarakhand, stated that the State was not pressing the appeal. The Division Bench accordingly dismissed Special Appeal No. 203 of 2026 as not pressed, and disposed of any pending applications.

Outcome

In WPM No. 1584 of 2026, Justice Pankaj Purohit granted permission to Anjuman Islamia Nainital and its members to offer Namaz at the flates, Nainital on 28 May 2026 from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. The court issued notice to respondent No. 6 returnable within six weeks, directed steps to be taken within three days, and called for counter affidavits within four weeks. The matter was listed for 13 July 2026. A certified copy of the order was directed to be supplied to counsel for the parties on the same day.

In Special Appeal No. 203 of 2026, the Division Bench dismissed the appeal as not pressed on 29 May 2026.