Sambhal Mosque Survey Case: SC Keeps Trial Court Proceedings In Abeyance Till Management Moves High Court

The Supreme Court today asked the management of Sambhal district's Shahi Jama Masjid to move the Allahabad High Court to challenge a Civil Court's Order to hold a survey of the mosque, while also asking the Civil Court to not proceed with the matter till the High Court hears it.

A two-Judge Bench comprising the Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Khanna expressed "hope and trust that the Trial Court will not proceed with the matter till the matter is listed before the High Court. Any further proceedings will be in terms of the Order passed by the High Court."

"Please ensure peace and harmony is maintained," Justice Khanna told Additional Solicitor General K.M. Nataraj appearing for Sambhal district administration, while adding, "You have to be totally neutral and ensure that nothing goes wrong."

The Court was hearing a Special Leave Petition (SLP), filed against the Order of the Civil Judge, Sambhal, Chandausi which was passed ex-parte on November 19 appointing an Advocate Commissioner to survey the Shahi Jama Masjid mosque. It prays for the stay on operation of that Order and a direction to the Civil Judge to place the report of the Survey Commissioner in a sealed cover. The Court, in its Order today, directed that the said report be kept in a sealed cover "and it shall not be opened."

The Bench clarified that it has not expressed any opinion on the merits of the matter and that it would keep the present SLP pending while the High Court hears the matter. It listed the SLP for further hearing in the week commencing January 6, 2025.

Earlier, on the day the Civil Court passed its Order, a civil suit was instituted in the same Court seeking an injunction against the management of the mosque to not create any hurdle in the access to the mosque, which the plaintiff termed as a temple. 

The petition filed by the management of the mosque urges attention to the fact that the Civil Court heard the matter ex-parte and on the same day, appointed an Advocate Commissioner to hold a survey, which too was conducted on that day itself in heavy police presence.

On the intervening night of November 23 and 24, the management was informed that a second survey was to be conducted. This was held early morning on November 24, and led to communal violence in the area, resulting in the deaths of six people.

The petition notes the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 contains a bar against the conversion of any place of worship and that they would retain the religious character as on August 15, 1947. "The suit filed is nothing but a discreet attempt at converting the religious character of the Shahi Jama Masjid." it contends. 

Justice Khanna urged the Sambhal district administration's counsel to consider appointing a "peace committee" under Section 43 of the Mediation Act, 2023. The said provision allows for local authorities to settle disputes likely to affect peace, harmony and tranquillity amongst the residents or families of any area or locality through community mediation, with prior mutual consent of the parties to the dispute. 

Senior Advocate Huzefa Ahmadi urged the Bench to take note of a pattern of approaching Courts to ask for surveys of mosques, which is often granted, but the Bench was not inclined to hear the matter on merits at any length today.

In the petition, the mosque management says the "rampant ordering of surveys where belated claims on mosques are made is emerging as a pattern". It prays that surveys in cases where belated claims are filed against places of worship should not be ordered and executed as a matter of course in cases involving disputes between two communities over places of worship without hearing the defendants and allowing sufficient time to the aggrieved persons to seek judicial remedies against the Order of survey.

Cause Title: Committee Of Management, Shahi Jama Masjid, Sambhal v. Hari Shankar Jain And Ors. [SLP(C) No. 28500/2024]