Sambhal mosque dispute: Supreme Court hearing today; judicial commission formed to probe stone-pelting

The Supreme Court will on Friday hear a plea filed by the management committee of Sambhal's Shahi Jama Masjid, challenging the November 19 order of a district court that directed a survey of the Mughal-era mosque.

Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh governor Anandiben Patel has constituted a three-member Judicial Inquiry Commission to be headed by Justice Devendra Kumar Arora (retired), Allahabad high court, to probe the stone-pelting incident in Sambhal, ensuring transparency and quality of inquiry. According to the order, the other two members of the commission are retired IAS Amit Mohan Prasad and Retired IPS Arvind Kumar Jain.

Sambhal mosque survey plea in Supreme Court

According to the cause list of November 29 uploaded on the apex court website, a bench headed by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna is scheduled to hear the plea filed by the committee.

The plea has sought an ex-parte stay on the operation of the November 19 order passed by the civil judge.

"The hot haste in which the survey was allowed and conducted all within a day and suddenly another survey was conducted with a notice of barely six hours has given rise to widespread communal tensions and threatens the secular and democratic fabric of the nation," it said.

Tension has been brewing in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal since November 19 when the court-ordered survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid was carried out following claims that a Harihar temple previously stood at the site.

Violence erupted on November 24 as protesters gathered near the mosque and clashed with security personnel, leading to stone pelting and arson. Four people died, and several others were injured in the violence.

The plea filed in the Supreme Court claimed the manner in which the survey was ordered in this case and in some other matters will have an immediate impact on the number of cases recently filed across the country concerning places of worship where such orders will have a "tendency to inflame communal passions, cause law and order problems and damage the secular fabric of the country".

It has sought a direction for the survey commissioner's report to be kept in a sealed cover and the status quo maintained in the Sambhal mosque until the matter is decided.

The plea has also sought the apex court's direction 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.

It said the Shahi Jama Masjid at Chandausi in Sambhal has been standing since the 16th century and has been in continuous use by the Muslims as a place of worship.

The plea said that on November 19, the civil judge heard the suit ex-parte and allowed the application seeking the appointment of an advocate commissioner for a survey of the mosque within hours.

"The order dated November 19, 2024, also contained no reasons at all as to why such an application was being considered ex-parte and why was it being allowed the same day," the plea stated.

"Evidently, the above-said order directs a survey 'as per the application' and has given neither any reasons nor any terms of reference for the survey".

3-member judicial panel formed for Sambhal stone-pelting incident

"The Governor thinks that it is necessary to conduct an inquiry in the public interest concerning the violent incident that took place on November 24, during the survey of disputed Jama Masjid- Harihar Mandir Site in Town Sambhal, Police Station- Kotwali Sambhal, District-Sambhal during the compliance of the order passed by the Court in which many Police personnel were injured, four persons lost their lives, and various properties were damaged," the order said.

"Now, therefore, in view of the comprehensiveness of the subject matter and to ensure transparency and quality of inquiry, in exercising the powers conferred by Section 3 of the Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952 (Act No. 60 of 1952), the Governor hereby constitutes the following three-member Judicial Inquiry Commission to be headed by Justice Devendra Kumar Arora (Retired), High Court, Allahabad," it added.

The order said the commission will submit a report on whether the incident was planned or a “sudden” event, and also on the effectiveness of law and order arrangements made by the district administration and police.

The order said the commission has two months to complete its inquiry from the date of this notification unless the government decides to extend its term.