Gyanvapi, Sambhal & more: The mandir-masjid suits that will be impacted by SC order on Places of Worship Act
FirstpostThe Supreme Court has asked all courts to stop ordering surveys of contested religious places until further directions. Last year, upholding the maintainability of the suit filed by the five Hindu devotees, Varanasi’s Court of the District and Sessions Judge directed a survey by the Archaeological Survey of India. Notably, in May 2022, while hearing an appeal against the Varanasi district court ordering a survey of the Gyanvapi mosque, a bench led by then CJI DY Chandrachud made oral remarks that the Places of Worship Act did not bar “ascertainment of a religious character of a structure as on August 15, 1947”. Ajmer Sharif Dargah In September, Hindu Sena chief Vishnu Gupta filed a civil suit claiming there was “historical evidence” of the existence of a Shiva temple at the site of the Ajmer Sharif Dargah. Other cases In 2022, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad filed a suit seeking a survey of the Malali Juma Masjid in Karnataka’s Mangalore, claiming a “temple like” structure was found beneath the mosque during its renovation.