Following demands from Hindutva groups, municipal authorities initially ordered the demolition of the top three floors in October 2024, later extending the order to the entire mosque in May 2025
NEW DELHI — The Himachal Pradesh High Court on Wednesday ordered status quo on the lower two floors of the five-storey Sanjauli mosque in Shimla, while maintaining that the top three floors must be demolished as per the Shimla municipal commissioner court’s directions.
The court instructed that the municipal commissioner’s demolition order for the upper floors be implemented, with compliance to continue until the next hearing scheduled for March 9, 2026.
Justice Ajay Mohan Goyal, after hearing the Waqf Board and mosque committee, emphasised that the floors previously promised to be removed must be demolished. The Waqf Board informed the court that two of the three top floors have already been removed and the remaining one will also be taken down, media reports reaching here said on Thursday.
The court’s decision comes after a prolonged legal and social dispute. Since September 2024, Hindutva organisations have been demanding the demolition of portions of the mosque that they claim were constructed illegally. Tensions were triggered by a fight between two shopkeepers from different communities, which also led to Hindutva groups demanding mandatory registration of migrant workers.
In October 2-24, the municipal commissioner first ordered the demolition of the top three floors. Later in May 2025, the commissioner extended the order to the entire mosque, declaring it illegal.
The district court upheld these demolition orders in October 2025. However, today’s high court ruling protects the mosque from being completely demolished and erased.
