Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court on Monday granted time to the Sambhal Jama Masjid Committee to submit a rejoinder to the counter-affidavit filed by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) in the dispute relating to the mosque and Harihar temple at Sambhal.
The Allahabad High Court fixed May 12 for the next hearing.
The matter is being heard on a revision petition filed by the masjid committee challenging a Sambhal court order.
When the matter was taken up on Monday, the counsel for the ASI said he had filed his counter-affidavit on which Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal granted time to the masjid committee to file a rejoinder and fixed May 12 for the next hearing.
The high court earlier had stayed further trial court proceedings of the original suit till the next date pending before the district court at Sambhal. The Hindu side plaintiff had sought a declaration to the effect that they have the right of access to Shri Hari Har Temple, which is alleged Jami Masjid situated at Mohalla Kot Purvi in Sambhal district.
The present civil revision was filed after the order of the Supreme Court in this regard challenging the entire proceedings as well as the maintainability of the suit before the Sambhal district court.
In the petition, it was alleged that the suit was filed in the afternoon of November 19 last year and within hours, the judge appointed an advocate commissioner and directed him to carry out an initial survey at the mosque which was done on the same day and again on November 24.
The court had also directed that a report of the survey be filed before it by November 29.
Advocate Hari Shanker Jain and seven others have filed a suit before the court of civil judge senior division, Sambhal, on the plea that Shahi Idgah mosque was built after demolishing a temple at Sambhal.
Sambhal has been tense since November 24 last year when four people died and several, including police personnel, were injured in clashes between the locals and the administration over the court-ordered survey of the ASI-protected Shahi Jama Masjid in the Kot Garvi area of the city.
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