New Delhi: The Allahabad high court on Wednesday (January 8) stayed the trial court proceedings in the Sambhal Jama Masjid matter till February 25.
A bench of Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal passed the restraining order on a civil revision, filed by the managing committee of the Mughal-era mosque, against a Sambhal civil court’s November 19 order asking for a survey of the Muslim site by an advocate commissioner.
The Sambhal civil judge senior division had on November 19 ordered a hurried survey of the mosque after taking cognisance of an application by some Hindu activists. The activists had claimed that the Islamic religious site, built during the time of Mughal emperor Babur, was originally a prominent Hindu temple dedicated to the prophesied avatar of Vishnu, Kalki.
Mosque at Sambhal in Uttar Pradesh (1789). Pencil and wash drawing, 29.7 x 48.8 cm. British Library, London. Photo: Thomas Daniell, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
After conducting an initial survey of the mosque within a few hours of the court’s orders, the survey team led by advocate commissioner Ramesh Raghav reached the mosque for a second round of photography and videography on the morning of November 24.
However, things turned violent that day. At least four Muslim men were killed in the violence that broke out in the lanes near the Shahi Jama Masjid during a tense second survey of the mosque, which many local Muslims felt was unwarranted. The kin of those killed have accused the police of shooting them, a charge denied by the authorities. Several police personnel were also injured and some vehicles torched or damaged.
The Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government on November 28 ordered a judicial probe by a three-member commission headed by Devendra Kumar Arora, a retired judge of the high court, to investigate the violence.
On December 12, a three-judge bench of the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna, while hearing petitions challenging The Places of Worship Act, 1991, directed that courts in the country not register any new suits claiming other religious places. The apex court also barred courts from passing any effective interim orders or final orders, including directions for surveys, in the pending suits, till further notice.
The apex court directions also applied to Sambhal. The advocate commissioner’s survey report of the Sambhal mosque was submitted in the local court and has been kept in a sealed cover. “Matter needs consideration of this court,” said Justice Agarwal, after hearing both sides in the matter.
While hearing the revision plea of the mosque’s managing committee, Justice Agarwal also sought responses from the state and Union governments, the district magistrate and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
In their suit, the Hindu activists, led by senior lawyer Hari Shankar Jain, claimed that the Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal was a centuries-old Hari Har temple dedicated to Kalki and was being “used forcibly and unlawfully” by the Jama Masjid caretaking committee.
They said that the mosque was a monument protected under Section 3 (3) of the Ancient Monuments Preservation Act, 1904. They also claimed that they were being “denied access” to the mosque, described by them as “subject property,” as the ASI had not taken any steps for entry of the general public as mentioned in the provisions of Section 18 of the Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958.