The Supreme Court on Friday halted the planned restoration of an old wall located outside the entrance of the Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal. The apex court issued notice to the Uttar Pradesh government to maintain the status quo regarding the well.
A bench of Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice PV Sanjay Kumar stayed the implementation of a notice issued by the district authorities to restore the well and also directed a status quo report to be filed. “Issue notice returnable on February 21. In the meantime, the status report is to be filed by respondents in two weeks. The respondents shall not give effect to any notice in relation to the well”, the bench said.
While the court agreed that the well is located outside the mosque, not inside as claimed by the mosque committee, it ordered status quo saying that the court was keeping a close watch so that peace and harmony is maintained.
The notice came after the Shahi Jama Masjid management committee approached the Supreme Court on Thursday seeking direction to the District Magistrate to ensure that the status quo is maintained with respect to the private well situated near the stairs/entrance of the mosque. The mosque committee urged the top court to issue directions to the DM and not to take any steps/actions with regard to the investigation of the well, and open the well-constructed outside the structure without due permission from this court.
The committee had approached the Supreme Court stating that the district management was conducting a drive to revive all the old temples and wells and was publicising public access to all the wells including one located near the mosque.
It further contended that posters were put up around Sambhal indicating the location of historical wells and showing the mosque as a temple. The committee’s plea mentioned that the District Magistrate had said that the well is not located inside the mosque and that the interim order of the Supreme Court concerns applies to things located inside the mosque.
Senior Advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, representing the mosque committee, argued that the administration was calling the mosque Hari Mandir and was planning to allow worship there. Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, representing the opposite side, claimed that the well did not lie within the purview of the mosque and the worshipping had been happing there.
Tensions had flared in Sambhal after a local court ordered a survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal on November 19. Clashes had erupted between police and the people opposing the survey of the mosque resulting in death of four people.