Sambhal Mosque Case In SC: Masjid Committee Contends Allahabad HC Violated Supreme Court's 2024 Survey Stay
In August last year, the apex court agreed to hear the mosque committee’s plea against the high court order.
By Sumit Saxena
Published : July 28, 2026 at 8:18 PM IST
New Delhi: The management committee of Sambhal’s Jama Masjid on Tuesday contended before the Supreme Court that the Allahabad High Court could not have proceeded in the matter concerning the survey ordered by a Sambhal court in the Shahi Jama Masjid and Harihar Temple dispute in light of the apex court’s December 2024 order.
A bench led by Justice P S Narasimha heard two separate pleas filed by the committee of management of Sambhal’s Jama Masjid challenging a May 19, 2025 order of the Allahabad High Court.
Senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, representing the mosque committee, argued that the first question was whether the high court could have proceeded with the matter against the backdrop of the December 2024 order of the top court.
"The high court could not have proceeded in the light of this order," Ahmadi said, adding that the apex court’s order was specifically pointed out to the high court.
The senior counsel also referred to the 1991 Act and argued that the whole object of the legislation was that the dispute should not be allowed to fester and you must "nip it in the bud". The apex court will continue to hear the matter on August 4.
The high court dismissed a plea of the mosque committee against the survey ordered by a Sambhal court in the Shahi Jama Masjid and Harihar temple dispute. The high court upheld the civil court’s direction for the survey. The high court had said the order to appoint a court commissioner and the suit were maintainable.
The apex court, in a significant order passed on December 12, 2024, restrained till further directions the courts in the country from entertaining fresh lawsuits and passing any effective interim or final orders in pending ones seeking to reclaim religious places, especially mosques and dargahs (a Muslim shrine). The apex court was hearing pleas challenging various provisions of the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991.
The 1991 law prohibits conversion of any place of worship and provides for the maintenance of the religious character of any place of worship as it existed on August 15, 1947. However, the dispute relating to Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid at Ayodhya was kept out of its purview.
The mosque committee had moved the high court against a November 19, 2024 order of the civil judge directing the Mughal-era mosque’s survey which took place the same day. The committee also claimed that a second survey carried out on November 24, 2024, was illegal because the civil court never ordered it.
In August last year, the apex court agreed to hear the mosque committee’s plea against the high court order. "In the meantime, the parties are directed to maintain status quo, as on today," the top court had said in its order.
A suit filed before the civil judge senior division, Sambhal, contended that the mosque was built after demolishing a temple there. The mosque, it claimed, was built by Mughal emperor Babur in 1526 after demolishing the Harihar temple.
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