Citing SC order, Jaunpur court refuses to order survey of 14th-century mosque

Jaunpur, UP: Citing the Supreme Court's temporary injunction prohibiting courts from making rulings in pending cases regarding the religious character of places of worship, a court in the Jaunpur district of Uttar Pradesh on Monday declined to order a survey of a mosque dating back to the 14th century, according to Live Law.

The Swaraj Vahini Association, a Hindu organisation, filed a lawsuit in the court, arguing that the Atala Mosque in Jaunpur was formerly a temple. According to the lawsuit, the temple was destroyed following Firuz Shah Tughlaq's invasion of India in the fourteenth century.

The Swaraj Vahini Association insisted that non-Hindus be prohibited from entering the premises and that Hindus be granted the privilege to worship there, Scroll.in reported.

However, citing a Supreme Court judgement from December 12 in response to a number of petitions contesting the constitutionality of the 1991 Places of Worship Special Provisions Act, the Jaunpur court declined to issue any orders regarding the plea.

On December 12, a three-judge Supreme Court panel ordered judges to refrain from issuing any interim or final rulings, including survey instructions, in pending cases pertaining to the religious character of places of worship.

Given the direction, the Jaunpur court on Monday set a new hearing date for the Atala Mosque case for March 2 of next year, which is 12 days after the Supreme Court is slated to consider the petitions once more.

The Places of Worship Act prohibits any alterations to the religious character of a place of worship as existed on August 15, 1947.

There are currently at least 18 lawsuits filed in courts across the country over ten mosques and shrines, including the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi, the Shahi Eidgah mosque in Mathura, and the Ajmer Sharif dargah in Rajasthan.

Hindu petitioners in these instances argue that the structures were built after historic Hindu temples were demolished.