New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Madhya Pradesh government to make arrangements for members of the Muslim community to offer Friday namaz at a plot stated to be adjacent to the disputed Bhojshala complex in Dhar.
While clarifying its earlier interim order on the issue, a Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V. Mohana directed that the Muslim community be permitted to offer religious prayers at the identified land between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. on Fridays.
The CJI-led Bench found that the site plan placed before it showed that the land, stated to be dargah land, was adjacent to the disputed premises and had an independent access road, making it suitable for the purpose.
The apex court directed the state authorities to make all necessary arrangements and clarified that the order would not prevent the parties from mutually agreeing on any other alternative site.
“This order shall not preclude the parties to opt for another site by mutual consent,” it said.
The latest direction came on an application filed by the Muslim side alleging that despite the Supreme Court’s earlier direction to provide an open space adjacent or near the Bhojshala premises for Friday prayers, the district administration had allotted a site situated over a kilometre away from the monument.
Senior advocate Huzefa Ahmadi, appearing for the Muslim petitioners, submitted that the Collector had allotted land nearly 1.3 km away by road from the disputed site, contending that the mosque and Dargah were not even visible from the designated location.
Referring to maps placed before the top court, Ahmadi argued that several alternative parcels of land adjoining the Bhojshala complex, including Waqf land, were available but had been rejected by the administration on the ground of law and order concerns.
He contended that the administration had failed to comply with the apex court’s direction to provide a site near the monument and urged restoration of the earlier arrangement under which Friday namaz was offered in the vicinity of the disputed complex.
During the hearing, the bench examined the site plan and questioned the state government as to why an adjacent plot with a separate access route could not be made available if independent ingress and egress for both communities were possible.
Appearing for the Madhya Pradesh government, Additional Solicitor General K.M. Nataraj submitted that the district administration was concerned only with maintaining law and order and did not wish to enter into competing claims of religious rights.
After considering the rival submissions and the site plan, the top court identified the portion marked in yellow on the map as the location where Friday prayers may be offered under the interim arrangement.
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court had refused to stay the Madhya Pradesh High Court’s judgment declaring the disputed Bhojshala-Kamal Maula Mosque complex to be a Hindu temple. However, as an ad hoc arrangement pending adjudication of the matter, it had directed the state government to provide a separate open space adjacent or near the protected monument for members of the Muslim community to offer Friday namaz between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., while making it clear that the arrangement would be without prejudice to the rights and contentions of either side.
The bench had further directed that no structural alterations be carried out by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) at the protected monument without prior permission of the top court.
The dispute arises from the Madhya Pradesh High Court’s May 15 judgment, which declared the Bhojshala-Kamal Maula complex in Dhar to be a Hindu temple and quashed the earlier administrative arrangement permitting Muslims to offer Friday namaz at the protected monument.
The Muslim side has challenged the High Court verdict before the Supreme Court, where the main proceedings concerning the religious character and rights associated with the disputed site remain pending.
The Bhojshala complex, a protected monument under the ASI, has long been at the centre of a religious dispute. Hindus claim it was established as a temple dedicated to Goddess Saraswati and a centre of Sanskrit learning, while the Muslim side maintains that the site includes the Kamal Maula Mosque and that Friday prayers had historically been offered there under the earlier administrative arrangement.
(IANS)
