How UP's mandir-masjid cases stand after apex court order

A CASE WAS FILED IN A VARANASI COURT IN 1991, DEMANDING THE REMOVAL OF MUSLIMS FROM THE COMPLEX AND THE RESTORATION OF THE TEMPLE.

- Pawan Dixit

LUCKNOW: After the Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday restrained courts across the country from admitting fresh suits or passing orders in pending ones seeking a survey of mosques to determine whether temples lie beneath them, ongoing proceedings in seven such cases in different courts across the state came to a halt. The top court's order halts proceedings in the Allahabad high court and trial courts related to mandir-masjid disputes in Badaun, Sambhal, Jaunpur, Varanasi, Mathura, Agra and Lucknow.

BADAUN, JAMA MASJID The Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha, in an application in September 2022, claimed that the Jama Masjid in Badaun is a Neelkanth Mahadev temple that was destroyed and converted into a mosque. The plea also made the state government and the ASI parties in the case, which was being heard by a special local fast-track court. The Hindu side claims the mosque was built by Badshah Sahamshuddin Altamash, 13th-century pre-Mughal Muslim ruler, after destroying the temple.

Status: Next hearing on December 17.