Allahabad High Court stays trial court proceedings in Sambhal mosque case till February 25

The Allahabad High Court on Wednesday stayed further proceedings before a trial court in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal about the Shahi Jama Masjid till February 25, Live Law reported.

A single-judge bench of Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal passed the order on a plea filed by the managing committee of the mosque against a November 19 order passed by the trial court ordering a survey of the disputed site.

The trial court’s order came on a suit filed by Hindu activists claiming that the mosque had been built in 1526 by Mughal ruler Babar on the site of the “centuries-old Shri Hari Har Temple dedicated to Lord Kalki”.

Five persons were killed in violence during protests in November against the survey of the mosque.

On Wednesday, the Allahabad High Court also directed the Union government, Archaeological Survey of India, Uttar Pradesh government, District Magistrate, and the plaintiffs in the suit to submit their responses within two weeks, Live Law reported.

The proceedings in the case were already deferred in effect since November 29 when the Supreme Court directed the trial court not to proceed with the case until the mosque committee’s petition was listed before the Allahabad High Court.

On December 12, the Supreme Court barred trial courts from passing orders, including survey directions, in pending lawsuits concerning the religious character of places of worship.

It also said...

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