Supreme Court to hear plea against Sambhal’s Shahi Jama Masjid survey today

The Supreme Court will hear a plea filed by the mosque committee challenging a Chandausi court’s order permitting a survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh. The matter has escalated following the Allahabad High Court’s refusal to stay the survey, with the Archaeological Survey of India stating the mosque is a protected monument rather than a place of worship.

New Delhi: The Supreme Court is slated to hear on Monday a plea filed by the Muslim side challenging the survey order issued by the Chandousi court for the Shahi Jama Masjid in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal district.

As per the cause list published on the website of the apex court, a Bench of Justices PS Narasimha and Alok Aradhe will take up the matter for hearing on April 20.

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The petition has been moved by the mosque committee opposing the survey exercise ordered in connection with the ongoing dispute over the Shahi Jama Masjid, which Hindu plaintiffs claim was built over a pre-existing temple structure.

Earlier, the top court had directed both Hindu and Muslim parties to maintain the status quo at the disputed site while hearing a special leave petition (SLP) challenging the Allahabad High Court’s refusal to stay the survey proceedings.

The dispute pertains to claims by the Hindu side that the mosque stands on the ruins of an ancient Harihar temple allegedly demolished during the Mughal period.

On the other hand, the mosque committee has contested the maintainability of the suit and raised objections over the manner in which the survey was ordered.

The controversy intensified after the Allahabad High Court upheld the Chandousi trial court’s direction permitting a survey of the site, finding no legal infirmity in the order.

The Allahabad High Court had also dismissed the mosque committee’s plea seeking a stay on the proceedings. Subsequently, the mosque committee approached the apex court, arguing that the survey order was passed without granting it an adequate opportunity to be heard and in violation of established legal principles.

The matter assumes significance in light of the Places of Worship Act, 1991, which bars the conversion of places of worship and mandates the maintenance of their religious character as it existed on August 15, 1947.

However, the Hindu side contends that the dispute lies beyond the scope of the Act, referring to provisions of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958.

The Shahi Jama Masjid dispute had earlier witnessed tensions on the ground, with violence erupting in Sambhal during a court-ordered survey, which had resulted in multiple fatalities.

In its submissions before the court, the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has stated that the Shahi Jama Masjid is a centrally protected monument and cannot be treated as a place of public worship in the absence of supporting records.