SC told Allahabad HC could not have allowed Sambhal mosque survey after 2024 order

The Supreme Court was told that the Allahabad High Court could not have proceeded with the Sambhal Shahi Jama Masjid survey matter after the apex court's December 2024 order restricting fresh proceedings in religious place disputes. The hearing will continue on August 4

New Delhi: The Supreme Court was on Tuesday told that the Allahabad High Court could not have proceeded in the matter concerning the survey ordered by a Sambhal court in the Shahi Jama Masjid and Harihar Temple dispute in light of the apex court’s December 2024 order.

In a significant order passed on December 12, 2024, the apex court had restrained till further directions the courts in the country from entertaining fresh lawsuits and passing any effective interim or final orders in pending ones seeking to reclaim religious places, especially mosques and dargahs (a Muslim shrine).

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The top court had passed the 2024 order while hearing pleas challenging various provisions of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991. The 1991 law prohibits conversion of any place of worship and provides for the maintenance of the religious character of any place of worship as it existed on August 15, 1947.

However, the dispute relating to Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid at Ayodhya was kept out of its purview. On Tuesday, two separate pleas filed by the committee of management of Sambhal’s Jama Masjid challenging a May 19, 2025 order of the Allahabad High Court came up for hearing before a bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Alok Aradhe.

The high court had dismissed a plea of the mosque committee against the survey ordered by a Sambhal court in the Shahi Jama Masjid and Harihar temple dispute, upholding the civil court’s direction for the survey.

The high court had said the order to appoint a court commissioner and the suit were maintainable. Senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, appearing for the mosque committee, contended before the apex court that the first question was whether the high court could have proceeded with the matter in light of the December 2024 order of the top court.

“The high court could not have proceeded in the light of this order,” Ahmadi said, adding that the top court’s order was specifically pointed out to the high court. Referring to the 1991 Act, he said the whole object of the legislation was that the dispute should not be allowed to fester and you must “nip it in the bud”. The arguments in the matter would continue on August 4.

The mosque committee had moved the high court against a November 19, 2024 order of the civil judge directing the Mughal-era mosque’s survey which took place the same day.

A second survey carried out on November 24, 2024, the committee claimed, was illegal as the civil court never ordered it. On August 22 last year, the apex court had agreed to hear the mosque committee’s plea against the high court order.

“In the meantime, the parties are directed to maintain status quo, as on today,” the top court had said in its order. A suit was filed before the civil judge senior division, Sambhal, contending that the mosque was built after demolishing a temple at Sambhal. The mosque, it claimed, was built by Mughal emperor Babur in 1526 after demolishing the Harihar temple.

The top court on November 29, 2024 ordered the Sambhal court to halt proceedings in the case over the mosque and its survey at Chandausi while directing the Uttar Pradesh government to maintain peace and harmony in the town.