The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has requested control of the Mughal-era Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal. The ASI highlighted issues with unauthorized modifications and incidents of violence during a court-ordered survey about the mosque's past.

The Supreme Court of India Friday November 29, 2024 paused the Trial Court’s order to conduct the survey of Sambhal Jama Masjid.

On November 19, a civil court in Sambhal had directed an advocate commissioner to conduct a survey of the mosque following a plea by Advocate Hari Shankar Jain and seven others.

The petition contends that the survey at Sambhal's Jama Masjid, ordered by a civil judge, was conducted hastily and could lead to communal tensions, jeopardizing the secular fabric of the country.

The Supreme Court is set to hear a plea challenging the November 19 order of a district court, which directed a survey of the Mughal-era mosque in Sambhal. "The hot haste in which the survey was allowed and conducted all within a day and suddenly another survey was conducted with a notice of barely six hours has given rise to widespread communal tensions and threatens the secular and democratic fabric of the nation,

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The plea noted that the survey has triggered communal tensions in the region and it should be halted as soon as possible.

The Supreme Court is set to hear on Friday a petition challenging a trial court’s order directing a survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal, raising questions over its legality and the manner in which it was ordered.

The suit was presented on November 19 and, on the same day, the trial court, in an ex-parte order, allowed the request for appointing an Advocate Commissioner for survey of the mosque, the plea said.