India, March 14 -- The Allahabad high court has asked the collector and police superintendent of Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal to resign or seek transfer if they are not competent to enforce the rule of law, after the authorities cited "law and order" concerns to limit the number of worshippers at a mosque.

A bench of justices Atul Sreedharan and Siddharth Nandan, on February 27, underlined that it is the duty of the state to ensure that every community can worship peacefully in their designated places of worship.

It reiterated that worshippers do not need the state's permission to pray on private property.

"This court has already settled that it is only where prayers or religious functions have to be held on public land or spill over the pu...