The Madhya Pradesh High Court will deliver its verdict in the dispute related to the Bhoshala temple complex and Kamal Maula Mosque on Friday, lawyers involved in the case said.
They said on Thursday that the list of reasons issued by the Supreme Court on May 15 indicates delivery of judgment in all six cases filed over the Bhoshala dispute.
The dispute concerns the religious nature of the archaeological survey of India’s protected monument in the Dhar region.
The Hindu community considers Bhojshala a temple dedicated to Vagdevi (Goddess Saraswati), while the Muslim side calls the monument Kamal Mula Mosque. A petitioner from the Jain community claims that the disputed complex is a medieval Jain and Gurukul temple.
After controversy erupted over the Bhoshala complex, the ASI issued an order on April 7, 2003, allowing Hindus to worship at the complex every Tuesday and Muslims to offer prayers there every Friday. The Hindu side challenged the order in the Supreme Court, seeking exclusive rights to worship in the complex.
Justice Vijay Kumar Shukla and Justice Alok Awasthi of the Indore High Court bench began regular hearings on five petitions and a writ appeal related to the case on April 6 this year. After hearing from all parties against the backdrop of different religious beliefs, historical claims, complex legal rulings, and thousands of documents related to the disputed monument, the court reserved its decision on May 12.
During the hearing, petitioners from Hindu, Muslim and Jain communities presented detailed arguments and demanded exclusive worship rights for their communities at the memorial.
The ASI, after conducting a scientific survey of the monument, noted in its over 2,000-page report that a massive structure dating back to the reign of the Parmar kings of Dhar preceded the mosque, and that the current disputed structure was built using reused temple components.
The Hindu side claims that coins, sculptures and inscriptions found by ASI during its scientific survey prove that the complex was originally a temple.
However, the Muslim side argued before the court that the survey report conducted by the ISI was “biased” and was willing to support the claims of the Hindu petitioners.
ASI refuted this and told the court that the scientific survey process was carried out with the help of experts, including three from the Muslim community.
The SC ordered ASI to conduct a scientific survey of the Bhojshala Temple-Kamal Mula Mosque complex on March 11, 2024. ASI began the survey on March 22 that year, and after a detailed survey of 98 days, submitted its report to the Supreme Court on July 15.
