India, June 4 -- The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed an appeal filed by the Delhi Waqf Board seeking possession of a pre-independence gurudwara as waqf property, observing that the Board should have relinquished its claim once records showed that a religious structure has been functioning on the land since 1948.

A bench of justices Sanjay Karol and Satish Chandra Sharma, sitting during the partial court working days, passed the order while deciding a 2012 appeal filed by the Board, challenging an order of September 24, 2010 by the Delhi high court, which held the property to be in possession of late Hira Singh, who had purchased the property from Mohammad Ahsan in 1953.

Dismissing the appeal, the court said, "The records show there...