The Supreme Court will on Friday hear a plea challenging the Sambhal district court’s November 19 order, which directed a survey of the Mughal-era mosque in Sambhal.
According to the cause list dated November 29 uploaded on the apex court website, a bench headed by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna is scheduled to hear the petition filed by the management committee of the Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh. The petition has sought a unilateral stay on the implementation of the November 19 order passed by the civil judge.
There has been a situation of tension in Sambhal since the first survey of Jama Masjid was conducted on November 19 on the orders of the court. In the petition on which the court gave this order, it has been claimed that earlier there was a Harihar temple at the place where Jama Masjid is situated. In the petition filed in the Supreme Court, it has been said that such orders are likely to incite communal sentiments, create law and order problems and damage the secular fabric of the country.
The state government has constituted a three-member judicial inquiry commission to investigate the violence that took place during the survey of Jama Masjid on November 24 in Sambhal. The commission constituted under the chairmanship of retired Allahabad High Court judge Devendra Kumar Arora will complete the investigation in two months and submit the report to the government. Retired IAS officer Amit Mohan Prasad and retired IPS officer Arvind Kumar Jain have been made members of the commission.
The government has constituted an inquiry commission with the consent of the Governor and has given instructions to investigate four points. The Commission will investigate whether the incident was sudden or planned or the result of a criminal conspiracy.
Besides, the arrangements made by the district administration and police to maintain law and order during the incident and other aspects related to them will also be investigated. The reasons and circumstances which led to the violence will be investigated. The commission will also give suggestions to the government regarding preventing recurrence of such incidents in future.