SC to hear today plea seeking stay on Sambhal mosque survey

New Delhi, Nov 29 (IANS) The Supreme Court is set to hear on Friday a plea filed by the Sambhal Shahi Jama Masjid Committee seeking a stay on a district court-ordered survey of the mosque to verify if the disputed structure was originally the Harihar temple.

As per the causelist published on the website of the apex court, a bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna and Sanjay Kumar will take up the mosque committee’s plea for hearing on November 29.

In its special leave petition filed before the Supreme Court, Sambhal Shahi Jama Masjid Committee has sought an ad-interim and ex-parte stay on the operation of the impugned decision passed by Chandausi’s Civil Judge on November 19.

Further, it demanded that the report of the survey commissioner be kept in a sealed cover and the status quo be maintained until the issue is determined by the Supreme Court.

The petition also sought directions to the effect that surveys should not be ordered and executed as a matter of course in cases involving disputes over places of worship without hearing all parties and allowing sufficient time for the aggrieved persons to seek judicial remedies against the order of survey.

Tensions mounted in Sambhal on November 24 during the second survey of the Mughal-era Jama Masjid after locals pelted stones at the police team. A second survey, as part of a court-ordered examination into the disputed site, began around 7 a.m. and a crowd began gathering at the spot. At first, the crowd just shouted slogans, and then, some people started pelting stones at the police and survey team, according to the police.

The attackers also vandalised and set afire vehicles, and firing broke out in which four men were killed and several policemen and officials injured.

Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh government has ordered a judicial inquiry into the recent incident of violence in Sambhal in which at least four persons lost their lives.

As per the order of the Uttar Pradesh Home Department, a three-member committee headed by retired High Court judge Justice Devendra Kumar Arora has been handed the responsibility of conducting an investigation into the matter.

The two other members of the committee are retired IAS officer Amit Mohan Prasad and former IPS officer Arvind Kumar Jain.

The order to constitute the committee was issued by the Home Department of Uttar Pradesh on Thursday and the panel had been directed to submit its report within two months.

"It is necessary to investigate in the public interest whether the incident of violence that took place on November 24, 2024, during the survey ordered by the Court in the Jama Masjid vs Harihar Mandir dispute was a pre-planned conspiracy or a normal criminal incident, due to which several police personnel were injured, four persons died and property was also damaged," said the order.

--IANS

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