The Supreme Court will hear today a petition filed by the Sambhal Jama Masjid Committee challenging an order passed by a trial court for the survey of the mosque by an Advocate Commissioner in a suit which claimed that the mosque was built after destroying a pre-existing temple.
A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar will hear the matter today.
The Committee managing the Shahi Jama Masjid at Chandausi (Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh) contended that it was constrained to approach the Supreme Court directly due to extraordinary circumstances. In this regard, it pointed out that the survey had triggered violence on November 24, leading to the death of four persons.
The mosque management argued that the Civil Judge Junior Division passed the order hastily, without issuing notice to them. The suit is barred by the Places of Worship Act 1991, they further argued. They also stated that the mosque was a 16-th century monument protected by the ASI.
Rampant ordering of surveys where belated claims on Mosques are made is emerging as a pattern, said the Masjid Committee. It sought directions that no such orders should be routinely passed without hearing the defendants. Routinely passing such orders will have the tendency to inflame communal passions, create law and order problems and damage the secular fabric of the country, the petitioner said.
Follow this page for Live Updates from today's hearing.
