New Delhi: The Gujarat high court on Tuesday, June 27, stayed the demolition of a century-old dargah in Aravalli district where a village panchayat had alleged that the structure had been constructed illegally and was encroaching grazing lands, the Times of India reported.The gram panchayat of Dhansura town’s Bhensvada village issued a demolition notice to the caretaker of the Chand Pir Saiyed Dargah on June 19. The notice said that the shrine would be razed at 11 am on June 28, according to the report.This prompted the villagers to approach the local authorities and the high court for the protection of the structure, TOI reported.In their petition, the villagers told the court the dargah was mentioned in revenue records from 1984-85 and the structure that was damaged during the 2002 riots was restored in 2012.Petitioner Abbasbhai Sirajhusen Mansuri argued that this dargah is Waqf property and is protected under Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991. He also argued that the dargah has been in revenue records for long and has a valid electric connection provided by Uttar Gujarat Vij Company Limited, the Deccan Herald reported.Since May 2022, the village panchayat had been asking the person who maintains the structure to remove the pakka construction and was demanding documents regarding the ownership of the land from him, the TOI report said.The Muslim residents of the village undertook the process of registering the dargah with the Gujarat State Waqf Board as a Waqf property but the panchayat issued the demolition notice saying that it has not received satisfactory evidence about the ownership of the land and the structure of the dargah remained an encroachment, TOI reported.Justice Sangeeta Vishen heard the case and issued a notice to the concerned authorities seeking a response by July 17. Until then the court has ordered to maintain the status quo.