Shimla, Oct 5 : Shimla civic authorities have ordered the demolition of three floors of the Sanjauli mosque, a structure that has been a point of contention between two communities here.

The Municipal Commissioner's Court on Saturday issued the ruling, directing the demolition of the second, third, and fourth floors within two months.

This decision follows an application by the mosque committee, which had itself proposed the demolition.

The court ordered that the demolition be carried out at the mosque committee's expense.

The next hearing in the case is scheduled for December 21.

Advocate B.S. Thakur said, the mosque committee has stated that it will decide on further steps after receiving the full judgment. He said a decision regarding the rest of the structure will be taken later on.

The Waqf Board, which claims ownership of the land, had earlier justified the construction, stating it followed proper regulations. However, the Board failed to provide documentation to support its claims.

Local residents had demanded the demolition, and the Municipal Corporation first issued a notice in 2011. Despite these actions, the mosque had expanded into a five-storey building by 2018 under several governments, without adequate records to show approvals.

The controversy has also triggered protests, with Hindu organisations calling for the demolition of other 'illegal' mosques across Himachal Pradesh.

The issue had also reached the Himachal Pradesh Assembly, where Rural Development Minister Anirudh Singh supported the demolition, and Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu emphasised that all state residents, regardless of religion, deserve equal respect.

The Sanjauli Mosque dispute began with an incident in the Malyana area of Shimla, where a Hindu man was allegedly assaulted by six individuals. The victim, who sustained serious injuries, filed a police complaint, claiming that the assailants had taken refuge in a nearby mosque. Following this, several Hindu organisations staged protests, demanding the mosque's demolition, asserting that it was an illegal structure.

/IANS