Nueva Delhi: The Superior Court of Allahabad on Wednesday allowed the bleaching and decorative lighting of the exterior of Sambhal Jama Masjid, provided that structural modifications are not made. The court scheduled the next hearing in the case of April 8.
The court had directed on Monday the Archaeological Service of India (as) that presented a detailed response on whether the money laundering, the additional lighting and the decorative lights were necessary for the mosque in dispute. He was asked to present his response within 24 hours, with March 12 established as a hearing date.
The mosque, a structure of the Mogol era, won national attention after the riots on November 24, 2024, which left four people dead after a local court ordered a site survey.
During the hearing, Judge Rohit Ranjan Agarwal declared that if a more detailed examination of the laundering structure and related work was required, he could send a team to inspect it. The Court also ordered the general lawyer of Uttar Pradesh, Ajay Kumar Misra, to obtain a copy of an alleged agreement as of January 19, 1927, between Mutawallis (custodians) of the mosque and the State, which according to the reports describes the responsibilities of the different agencies with respect to the maintenance of the Mosque.
Senior lawyer sfa naqvi, which represents the Mosque Management CommitteeHe argued that the same had not explicitly opposed the bleaching and additional lighting. He clarified that paint was not required inside the mosque.
Meanwhile, like this lawyer Kumar Singh, said that although there was some peeling on the outside of the structure, only a final decision could be made after an exhaustive survey of archaeologists and experts. However, he argued that laundering was unnecessary. The court observed that the position of like this on the matter was not clearly established in his affidavits.