The Centre has opposed a plea before the Calcutta High Court seeking the resumption of prayers at the Bankra Mosque inside Kolkata airport, saying national and aviation security take precedence over what it described as permissible public interest. The court adjourned the matter to October 9 after the petitioners sought time to respond to arguments from the authorities.
Additional Solicitor General Dhiraj Trivedi told Justice Krishna Rao that the authorities were planning an expansion of the airport and that the mosque’s location inside a highly sensitive operational zone was hampering that process. He opposed an interim order that would allow prayers to continue until the petition is finally decided.
Representing the Airports Authority of India, barrister S N Mookerjee said prayers at the mosque had been suspended on July 11. The petitioners approached the court on August 27, seeking the restoration of regulated access. The AAI argued that existing security arrangements for people entering the mosque were not foolproof and that both national security and aviation security were involved.
The mosque is located within the perimeter of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport and has become the focus of a dispute over access, security controls and the use of land within an operational airport area. Before access was stopped, about 70 devotees were permitted to offer prayers each day in different time slots after producing their Aadhaar cards to Central Industrial Security Force personnel. Airport authorities had said they were awaiting instructions on whether a new pass system would be introduced or public access would remain suspended.
The West Bengal government also opposed the petition. Additional Advocate General Billwadal Bhattacharya told the court that the petitioners had no legal right over the site because the land on which the mosque stands had been acquired by the government. He sought rejection of the plea.
The petitioners have disputed the authorities’ position, arguing that prayers had been held at the mosque for 136 years without a single complaint against worshippers. Their counsel, Kishore Dutta, said during the previous hearing on October 1 that the mosque predated the airport. He submitted that the aerodrome began functioning in 1924, while the mosque was about 136 years old.
Dutta said the village of Bankra had been acquired for construction of the airport but that the mosque had been allowed to remain. According to the petitioners, local residents were stopped from accessing the site from July 11 to offer prayers and perform other rituals. They said access had earlier been regulated, with security personnel transporting worshippers to and from the mosque by bus.
The petitioners have maintained that security concerns had not previously prevented prayers and asked the court to allow the earlier regulated access arrangement to continue until a final decision is reached. The court is scheduled to hear the matter again on October 9.
