New Delhi, August 11: The Supreme Court on Tuesday adjourned the hearing on pleas filed by the Sambhal Jama Masjid management committee against an Allahabad High Court order concerning the mosque survey.
A bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Alok Aradhe deferred the matter to August 18 after noting that a letter seeking an adjournment had been circulated.
The committee has challenged the Allahabad High Court’s May 19, 2025 order, which upheld a Sambhal civil court’s direction for a survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid in connection with a dispute over the site.
SC to Hear Sambhal Jama Masjid Plea on August 18
The Supreme Court was told earlier that the Allahabad High Court could not have proceeded with the matter in view of the apex court’s December 2024 order concerning disputes over religious places.
On December 12, 2024, the Supreme Court directed courts across the country not to entertain fresh suits or pass effective interim or final orders in pending cases seeking to reclaim religious places, including mosques and dargahs.
The order came while the court was hearing challenges to provisions of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991.
The law prohibits the conversion of places of worship and provides for maintaining their religious character as it existed on August 15, 1947. The Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute was excluded from the law’s scope.
The Sambhal Jama Masjid management committee had approached the Allahabad High Court against a November 19, 2024 order of the civil judge directing a survey of the Mughal-era mosque.
The first survey was conducted on the same day. The committee later alleged that a second survey on November 24 was illegal because the civil court had not issued an order for it.
The Allahabad High Court subsequently dismissed the mosque committee’s challenge and held that the civil suit and appointment of a court commissioner for the survey were maintainable.
The Supreme Court later agreed to hear the mosque committee’s challenge. It also directed the parties to maintain the status quo.
The underlying dispute arose from a suit claiming that the mosque was built after the alleged demolition of a Harihar temple. The petition claimed that Mughal emperor Babur constructed the mosque in 1526.
The Supreme Court had earlier directed the Sambhal civil court to halt proceedings related to the mosque and survey. It also directed the Uttar Pradesh government to maintain peace and communal harmony in the area.
The matter will now come up before the Supreme Court on August 18.
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