The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to stay the Madhya Pradesh High Court order that declared the disputed Bhojshala-Kamal Maula complex in Dhar a temple, but put in place an interim arrangement allowing Muslims to offer Friday namaz on an open space adjacent to the monument.
A bench led by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant issued notice on the appeal filed by the Muslim side and sought responses from the Hindu parties, the Centre, the Madhya Pradesh government, the Dhar district magistrate and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI). The court also directed that the ASI cannot carry out any structural changes at the site without its permission.
As part of its interim directions, the Supreme Court said no namaz will be offered inside the Bhojshala premises. Instead, it directed that an open space adjacent to the Bhojshala complex be made available for Friday prayers between 1 pm and 3 pm.
The dispute goes back to the High Court’s May 15 verdict. A division bench of Justices Vijay Kumar Shukla and Alok Awasthi held the 11th-century ASI-protected monument to be a temple of Goddess Vagdevi (Saraswati) and a centre of Sanskrit learning, and quashed a 2003 ASI arrangement that had allowed Hindus to worship on Tuesdays and Muslims to offer namaz on Fridays, effectively barring prayers inside the complex by the Muslim side.
The Muslim community was allowed to seek alternate land in Dhar to build a mosque. Qazi Moinuddin, the mosque’s caretaker, and others challenged the ruling in the top court, while Hindu parties had filed caveats.
The matter will now be heard in the third week of July.
What did the CJI observe?
During the hearing on Tuesday, Chief Justice of India (CJI) made a series of oral observations stressing the need to preserve peace. He cautioned against passing any order that could create a law-and-order problem “at this juncture” and said the court was willing to hear the matter on a day-to-day basis.
“Let us not pass any order which creates a law and order problem at this juncture. We are ready to take it up on a day-to-day basis. I must also say that some of ASI’s orders have been creating problems. We will hear both sides; they should show patience,” the CJI remarked.
The CJI further observed that the dispute was highly sensitive and cautioned against any action or expression that could escalate tensions.
“These are very sensitive matters. What is happening here can create the wrong message. We should be careful with our expressions. The High Court and the helplessness of the State in maintaining law and order issues have been noticed. That’s why we thought whatever system is there,” the CJI said.
The case concerns the long-standing dispute over the Bhojshala-Kamal Maula Mosque complex in Dhar, where Hindus claim the site as the Bhojshala temple dedicated to Goddess Saraswati, while Muslims maintain it is the Kamal Maula Mosque.