All parties asked to respond to the 2,000-page scientific report; the existing arrangement of Tuesday worship and Friday prayers at the protected Dhar site continues
INDORE — The Indore Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court has issued important directions in the long-running dispute over the Bhojshala Temple–Kamal Maula Mosque complex in Dhar district.
Hearing the matter on Monday (23 February), the court granted all parties two weeks to file their objections, views and suggestions on the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) scientific survey report. The next hearing has been fixed for 16 March.
The Bench of Justice Vijay Kumar Shukla and Justice Alok Awasthi noted that the sealed survey report had already been opened and copies supplied to the concerned parties. The court observed that no party had yet submitted formal objections or comments on the findings. It therefore directed them to do so within the given timeframe.
The Bhojshala–Kamal Maula mosque complex in Dhar has been at the centre of a long-standing legal and religious dispute.
The Hindu side claims that the site is an ancient temple dedicated to Goddess Vagdevi, also identified with Saraswati. Muslim groups maintain that it is the 11th-century Kamal Maula mosque.
The site is a protected monument under the Archaeological Survey of India.
Earlier, on 22 January, the Supreme Court directed the high court to open the sealed scientific survey report prepared by the ASI and proceed in accordance with the law.
Advocate Vinay Joshi, representing the petitioner organisation Hindu Front for Justice, said the ASI conducted a 98-day scientific survey of the disputed premises.
According to him, the agency prepared a detailed report running into 10 volumes and more than 2,000 pages.
Joshi stated: “‘The ASI has included details of coins, symbols linked to Sanatan Dharma and idols of deities found at the site. However, the final determination of the nature of the complex will be made only by the court.’”
He stressed that the report is part of the evidence and that the court will take a final view after hearing all sides.
Meanwhile, three individuals who offer Friday prayers at the Kamal Maula mosque have filed an intervention application in the case originally filed by Hindu Front for Justice.
Their counsel, Advocate Ashhar Warsi, argued that the dispute concerns questions of fact which should first be examined by a civil court.
He said: “The case involves factual issues about the nature of the property. These matters should be decided by a civil court after a proper trial. In this situation, the matter is not maintainable in the high court at this stage.”
The court is expected to consider these arguments during the upcoming hearing.
The present arrangement at the site will continue until further orders.
Under an ASI order issued on 7 April 2003, the Hindu community is permitted to perform puja every Tuesday, while the Muslim community is allowed to offer Friday prayers.
On Tuesdays, Hindus may conduct worship from morning until evening. On Fridays, Muslims are permitted to offer prayers between 1 pm and 3 pm.
This arrangement has remained in force for over two decades while the legal dispute continues.
With the high court now formally seeking objections to the ASI’s findings, the focus shifts to how both sides interpret the scientific survey.
The court’s eventual decision is expected to have significant implications for the management and character of the historic Dhar site.
For now, the existing system of shared religious access remains in place as the legal process moves forward.
