SC orders status quo in Sambhal mosque row, issues notice

The Supreme Court on Friday ordered status quo till August 25 in the Sambhal mosque row and issued notice to the Hindu petitioners.

A bench of Justices P S Narasimha and A S Chandurkar passed the orders.

The top court was hearing an appeal filed by Masjid committee challenging an order of the Allahabad High Court which dismissed its plea against the survey ordered by a Sambhal court in the Shahi Jama Masjid and Harihar Temple dispute, upholding the civil court's direction for the survey.

The high court said the order to appoint a court commissioner and the suit were maintainable.

The mosque committee had moved the high court against the November 19 last year order of the civil judge directing the Mughal-era mosque' survey which took place the same day.

A second survey carried out on November 24 last year, the committee claimed, was illegal as the civil court never ordered it.