Surat: The Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) on Thursday razed a madrassa near Gopi Talav that was deemed as an encroachment of SMC’s land by the Gujarat High Court.

Local people had encroached on 850 square meters of government land just adjacent to the parking lot of Gopi Talav that is under the SMC on the pretext of conducting religious activities. The controversy erupted after the madrassa constructed the first floor.

The system went into overdrive after the encroachment came to light and the madrassa management approached the WAQF board to counter it. The WAQF Board went to the high court, which after patiently listening to arguments on both sides, adjudicated in favor of the SMC. As a result of this verdict, the first floor of the madrassa was demolished voluntarily by its management.

However, the SMC under police protection then went ahead and also razed the ground floor, which had been left untouched by the madrassa management.

The SMC before embarking on the demolition informed the police, which ensured that there was no mischief from the side of the locals.

It is worth mentioning that to regularize the unlawful construction, the madrassa’s management had arranged for getting the name updated in the Vera Bill and decided to pay the Vera. However, the SMC produced evidence to prove to the high court that the madrassa had been constructed on government land.

In fact, the madrassa management had voluntarily agreed to dismantle it in 10-15 days after the SMC served notice to it for encroachment but retracted and took the matter to the WAQF board which in turn approached the Gujarat High Court. DeshGujarat.