President of the Islamic Society and chief of DOJ's Civil Division served on same board at Drew University.
BERNARDS -- Township officials have accused the Justice Department of a conflict of interest in the lawsuit filed Tuesday alleging the township violated federal law by denying of the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge's plan to build a mosque.
Mohammad Ali Chaudry, president of the Islamic Society, and Caroline Sadlowski, chief of the Civil Division in the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Jersey both serve on the advisory board for Drew University's Center for Religion, Culture and Conflicts.
"Their relationship and the obvious conflict of interest just doesn't pass the smell test and reasonable people recognize this," township committee member John Carpenter said.
The Islamic Society filed its application for a 4,252-square-foot mosque to be built on a 4.3-acre site on Church Street in April 2012.
Township officials said requests were submitted under the Freedom of Information Act for any information or communication related to the Chaudry and Sadlowski but their requests have been denied.
Chaudry said that he and the Islamic Society "categorically reject any suggestion" of a conflict of interest. While he and Sadlowski attended meetings, they have no "personal friendship."
"It is unfortunate that township officials have chosen to attack career professionals at the Department of Justice with baseless aspersions rather than reflect on their treatment of the Township's small Muslim community," said Chaudry.
Chaudry is the township's former mayor and once served on the township committee and its board of education.
Feds file lawsuit against N.J. townMatthew Reilly, spokesman for the Justice Department, said Tuesday that Sadlowski brought the matter to the attention of her supervisor before getting involved in the case.
"After the township raised this question, we brought it before the Department of Justice's Professional Responsibility Advisory Office as well as the Executive Office of the U.S. Attorneys' General Counsel's Office," said Reilly. "They concluded that this does not create a conflict or an appearance of a conflict of interest with respect to this investigation."
A federal discrimination lawsuit filed by the Islamic Society of Basking Ridge over the township's denial of a proposed mosque is pending.
The township, in its statement, said it "maintains that the Planning Board denial was based on legitimate land use and safety concerns which plaintiffs refused, and to this day, refuse to address. To that point, the planning board presented plaintiffs an opportunity for reconsideration to address the land use issues early on, and plaintiffs have shown no interest in complying."The Justice Department's complaint, filed in U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey, alleges that Bernards Township's denial of approval for the mosque:
- discriminated against the Islamic Society based on its religion and the religion of its members
- applied standards and procedures on the society that it had not applied to other religious and non-religious assemblies in the past
- and, imposed a substantial burden on the society's religious exercise.
The township said in its statement that the Justice Department offered to not file the complaint if Bernards "conceded to substantially all of the plaintiffs demands," a move "designed to coerce the township to settle in a manner which does not address proper land use planning."
The township has requested a stay of the Department of Justice complaint based on the conflict of interest.
Dave Hutchinson may be reached at dhutchinson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @DHutch_SL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.