MEERUT, Sept. 8 -- In a state which is headed to polls likely in February-March next year, just over a year of legal battle led to the razing of a mosque claimed to be 150 years old inside the Saharanpur collectorate. Officials carried out the demolition on September 5. In a 26-page judgment, a copy of which Hindustan Times reviewed, District Judge Satendra Kumar affirmed the eviction order issued by the city magistrate's court under the Uttar Pradesh Public Premises (Eviction of Unauthorised Occupants) Act, 1972, on July 16. The court said the mosque failed to produce evidence regarding ownership and lawful possession of the property.

Eviction upheld, demolition follows

The demolition followed the district court's verdict, which on Sep...