Allahabad high court upholds trial court order, backs Sambhal mosque survey
Allahabad high court
dismissed on Monday the Sambhal Shahi Jama Masjid committee's petition challenging a Nov 19, 2024 trial court order directing an advocate commissioner to survey the structure, the subject of a suit claiming that the mosque was built in 1526 after demolishing a temple, reports Rajesh Kumar Pandey.
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While upholding the trial court's survey order, Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal vacated the interim stay on the
Hindu plaintiffs
' suit. The mosque committee had asked for the suit to be dismissed on the ground that the Hindu side's claim to the site was prima facie barred under the Places of Worship Act, 1991. The legislation prohibits conversion of any place of worship and mandates maintaining the religious character of any such site that existed on Aug 15, 1947.
HC: Plaintiffs only seeking right to access to Sambhal site
This is not a case where any conversion of place of worship is taking place or the religious character is being changed. The plaintiffs have only sought right to access to a protected monument, declared in 1920 under Section 18 of Ancient Monument and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958, the 45-page judgment states. In its petition, the mosque committee contended that the civil judge (junior division) ordered the survey "hastily" and "without issuing notice".
Based on the Nov 19 directive, a survey was conducted that very day and another one on Nov 24.
Later that month, SC stayed proceedings in the trial court until the mosque committee's petition against the survey order was heard by an HC bench.
Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) said in its submission to the bench that the mosque had been designated as a protected monument under the
Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act
, 1958.
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This effectively means that its status is governed by preservation laws rather than religious classification. ASI also mentioned that nowhere in official records was the mosque described as a religious place.
The Hindu plaintiffs contend that the disputed Sambhal mosque stands at what used to be site of an ancient Harihar temple dedicated to Kalki, last avatar of Vishnu. The suit claims in 1526, on orders of Mughal emperor Babar, the temple was partially demolished and a mosque built over it.
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