Sambhal temple-mosque row: Court defers hearing to January 8

Sambhal (UP), Dec 3 (PTI) A court in Chandausi on Wednesday again deferred the hearing in the Shahi Jama Masjid-Harihar temple dispute as a petition on the matter is pending in the Supreme Court.

The matter was listed for hearing before Civil Judge (senior division) Aditya Singh.

The counsel for Shahi Jama Masjid, Shakeel Ahmed Warsi, told reporters that "the hearing in this case was to be held today but due to the stay in the Supreme Court, the hearing has been postponed and will be held on January 8".

Hindu petitioners, including advocates Hari Shankar Jain and Vishnu Shankar Jain, had filed a suit in the Sambhal district court last year claiming the mosque was built over a pre-existing temple.

A court-ordered survey was conducted on the same day (November 19), followed by another on November 24.

During the second survey on November 24, violence erupted during protests against the survey, resulting in the death of four persons and injuries to 29 police personnel.

The police booked SP MP Ziaur Rahman Barq and mosque committee head Zafar Ali in connection with the violence, besides registering an FIR against 2,750 unidentified persons.

The Muslim side has challenged the maintainability of the mosque-temple dispute case in the Allahabad High Court, but on May 19, the high court upheld the trial court's order permitting the court-monitored survey and directed it to proceed with the matter.

In August this year, the Supreme Court ordered status quo in the dispute while hearing an appeal filed by the mosque committee against the Allahabad High Court order. PTI CORR ABN RT