The Telangana High Court has come to the aid of Sunni Masjid Osmania and Deeni Madarsa, situated at Ananthagiri hills by asking the Forest Officials to not interfere with their peaceful possession, administration and management. The High Court also clarified that the Mosque and Madarsa should not encroach upon any Reserve Forest area.

The petition before the High Court was filed by the Mutawalli of Sunni Masjid Osmania and Deeni Madars to declare the repeated interference and highhanded actions of the respondent Forest Authorities in entering upon the subject Waqf property comprising Sunni Masjid Osmania Deeni Madarsa and Yousufain Old Age Home situated at Ananthagiri Hills Vikarabad District Telangana as illegal and unconstitutional. ‘

The Single Bench of Justice Surepalli Nanda held, “This Writ Petition is disposed of directing the respondent forest officials not to interfere with the peaceful possession, administration, management and enjoyment of Sunni Masjid Osmania and Deeni Madarsa, situated at Ananthagiri hills, Vikarabad District, without following due process of law.”

“It is further observed that under the guise of the present order, passed in the present writ petition, the Sunni Masjid Osmania and Deeni Madarsa, situated at Ananthagiri hills, Vikarabad District, shall not encroach upon any Reserve Forest area”, it added.

Advocate Mohd Ismail Khan represented the Petitioner while Government Pleader represented the Respondent.

Factual Background

The petitioner Mutawalli claimed that the respondent forest authorities were interfering with peaceful possession, administration and management of the Waqf institution by orally directing the petitioner to vacate the premises.The Sunni Masjid Osmania and Deeni Madarsa, situated at Ananthagiri hills, Vikarabad District, is a religious charitable institution established exclusively for the benefit of the Muslim community.

The petitioner claimed that the Waqf property of the said institution runs approximately into 14,000 sq.yards and the Muntakhab also had been issued in 2023, duly entering the Sunni Masjid Osmania and Deeni Madarsa, which conferred statutory recognition upon the Waqf institution and its properties under the provisions of the Waqf Act, 1995. The petitioner claimed that the Forest officials had been unnecessarily interfering with the day-to-day activities of Madarsa. One particular incident was brought to the notice of the Court when, during the time of Jumma Namaz, officials of the Forest Department forcibly entered the premises, tried to obstruct the congregation of worshippers and caused disturbance to the peaceful conduct of Friday prayers. It was alleged that they attempted to intimidate the petitioner and the students by orally directing them to vacate the premises.

Reasoning

The Bench took note of the documents enclosed along with the affidavit filed by the petitioner in support of the writ petition, indicating the legal status of Sunni Masjid Osmania and Deeni Madarsa, situated at Ananthagiri hills, Vikarabad District. The Bench considered the plea of the Forest Department that at no point of time, forest officials neither attempted to dispossess the petitioner nor interfered with the lawful possession and religious activities of Sunni Masjid Osmania and Deeni Madarsa.

The Bench thus disposed of the petition by directing the respondent forest officials not to interfere with the peaceful possession of Sunni Masjid Osmania and Deeni Madarsa without following due process of law. Restraining the Sunni Masjid Osmania and Deeni Madarsa from encroaching upon any Reserve Forest area, the Bench ordered, “In the event of any such encroachment, it is open for the respondent Forest Department to initiate appropriate action against the encroachers concerned in accordance to law and as per the provisions of the Forest Rights Act, 2006 and the relevant laws.”

Cause Title: Mohammed Faiyaz Ali v. The State of Telangana (Writ Petition No.24301 of 2026)

Click here to read/download Order


Telangana High CourtJustice Surepalli Nanda

Tulip Kanth

Assistant Editor

Tulip Kanth is an Assistant Editor at Verdictum having over 5 years of experience in the field of legal journalism and editing. She extensively covers judgments of the Supreme Court, High Courts as well as Tribunals. She has previously worked with a legal publishing website where she oversaw the work of other editors and has also created updates on notifications of different Government Ministries. She holds an English Honours Degree from SGTB Khalsa College, Delhi University and has completed her LLB course with specialisation in Corporate Law from Amity University.