Court defers Sambhal row hearing to August 25
A court in Chandausi on Tuesday postponed to August 25 the hearing in the Shahi Jama Masjid-Harihar temple dispute in the wake of the stay on proceedings by the Supreme Court.
The matter was listed for hearing before Civil Judge (Senior Division) Aditya Singh.
The Supreme Court had in November 2024 imposed an interim stay on the survey of the 16th-century Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal and halted all proceedings regarding the dispute in the local trial court
Hindu side counsel Shrigopal Sharma said the matter was listed for hearing on Tuesday, but no proceedings took place as the case remains stayed following an order of the Supreme Court. The court has now fixed August 25 as the next date of hearing, he said.
On the mediation process, Sharma said no settlement could be reached.
“We were ready for mediation, but the other side was not willing to accept our proposals,” he said. Responding to a question on mediation, counsel for the Shahi Jama Masjid side, Shakeel Ahmed Warsi, said the effort failed because the Hindu side’s demand was outside the scope of the dispute.
“They wanted the right to offer prayers, which was not acceptable to us. We made it clear that we could not agree to that demand. The court should decide the matter, and whatever decision the court delivers will be acceptable to us,” he said. The legal dispute emerged on November 19, 2024, when Hindu petitioners, including advocates Hari Shankar Jain and Vishnu Shankar Jain, filed a suit in the Sambhal district court claiming the mosque was built over a temple.
The Muslim side has challenged the maintainability of the case in the Allahabad High Court, but on May 19, 2025, the high court upheld the trial court’s order permitting a court-monitored survey and directed it to proceed with the matter.
A court-ordered survey had been conducted at the site on November 19, 2025.
The second survey on November 24 led to significant unrest in Sambhal, resulting in the death of four persons and injuries to 29 police personnel.
The police booked SP MP Ziaur Rahman Barq and mosque committee head Zafar Ali in connection with the violence, besides registering an FIR against 2,750 unidentified persons.
