SC to Hear Challenging Investigation Verdict of Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal on Friday

New Delhi, 28 November: The Supreme Court will on Friday hear a petition challenging the district court’s November 19 order to conduct a survey at a Mughal-era mosque in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh.

According to the case list dated November 29 uploaded on the apex court website, a bench headed by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna is scheduled to hear the plea filed by the Management Committee of Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal. In the defense, it was requested that the execution of the November 19 decision given by the civil judge be unilaterally suspended.

“Allowing the survey and conducting it within a day, and suddenly conducting another survey six hours before, led to widespread social tensions and threatened the secular and democratic fabric of the country,” the statement said. .

Tension has been rising in Sambhal since November 19, when a court-ordered search was conducted at the Shahi Jama Masjid following allegations that a Harihar temple had previously been located in the area.

Violence broke out on 24 November as protesters gathered near the mosque and clashed with security personnel, pelting stones and arson. 4 people died and many people were injured in the violent incidents.

The plea submitted to the high court said that the manner in which polls were decided in this case and some other matters were such decisions “tend to inflame social passions, create law and order problems and damage the secular fabric of the country”.

He sought directions that the poll commissioner’s report should be kept in a sealed cover and status quo at Sambhal mosque should be maintained till the matter is decided.

The defense also asked the top court to direct that surveys should naturally not be ordered and conducted in cases involving disputes regarding places of worship, without hearing all the parties and without giving sufficient time to the aggrieved persons to take legal action against them. survey order.

It was stated that the Shahi Jama Masjid at Chandausi in Sambhal has been standing since the 16th century and has been constantly used as a place of worship by Muslims.

“Although there has been no dispute so far regarding the Jama Masjid in question, on 19 November 2024, a petition was filed by eight plaintiffs calling the Jama Masjid ‘Shri Hari Har Temple’ and inter alia, claiming that the plaintiffs have the right of access as Jama Masjid and also Requesting an interim injunction against the defendants to prevent any obstruction in access to the mosque, as the plaintiffs put it, as a temple,” he said.

The defense stated that on November 19, the civil judge heard the case ex parte and allowed the request to appoint a lawyer commissioner to investigate the mosque within a few hours.

In the defense, “The order dated November 19, 2024 did not contain any justification as to why such an application was evaluated unilaterally and why permission was given on the same day.” It was said.

“To be clear, the above-mentioned order directs a survey ‘as per application’ and does not specify any justification or terms of reference for the survey.”

The defense claimed that within two hours of the order, the lawyer’s commissioner arrived at the mosque along with the police force and others to conduct an investigation. It was stated that the survey started at 18.00 and continued until 20.30.

“While the petitioners were preparing to take legal action against the unilateral decision and survey on 19 November, just before midnight on 23/24 November 2024, the chamber officer arrived to inform the petitioner committee chairman that another situation had suddenly arisen. The next morning, i.e. 24 November, the survey It was stated that it will be held in November 2024.

Before the petitioner had a chance to fully understand the second survey and seek any remedy against it, at 6.15 am on 24 November, the poll commissioner arrived with heavy police presence and the petitioners’ lawyers to commence the survey.

“The rapid progress of the incident and the sudden investigation caused anxiety in the residents of the area, who ran out of their homes. According to the information obtained, the police opened fire on the protesting citizens. As a result of the fire, 6 innocent people lost their lives and many were injured.”

Citing “extraordinary circumstances”, the petitioner had urged the top court to intervene and stay the proceedings on the civil case pending before the civil judge.

In defense, it was claimed that a pattern emerged of over-sequencing surveys in which overdue claims were made about mosques.

(Disclaimer: Except for the title, this article has not been edited by FPJ’s editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)