Sambhal Temple-Mosque Dispute: Hearing Deferred to September 25
A civil court in Chandausi has fixed September 25, 2025, as the next date of hearing in the ongoing dispute over the Shahi Jama Masjid and Harihar temple in Uttar Pradesh’s Sambhal district.
The case was listed before Civil Judge (Senior Division) Aditya Singh on Thursday. However, the matter was adjourned as the Supreme Court has granted an interim stay. Advocate Shakeel Ahmed Warsi, representing the mosque, confirmed the development, while Hindu side counsel Shri Shri Gopal Sharma also agreed that the proceedings were deferred.
The Muslim side had earlier challenged the maintainability of the case in the Allahabad High Court, but on May 19, the High Court upheld the trial court’s order allowing a court-monitored survey of the disputed site and directed that proceedings continue.
The dispute began on November 19, 2023, when Hindu petitioners, including advocates Hari Shankar Jain and Vishnu Shankar Jain, filed a case in the Sambhal district court claiming that the Shahi Jama Masjid was built over a pre-existing Harihar temple.
That same day, the court ordered a survey of the premises, followed by another on November 24. The second survey sparked widespread unrest in Sambhal, resulting in four deaths and injuries to 29 police personnel.
In connection with the violence, police filed cases against Samajwadi Party MP Ziaur Rahman Barq, mosque committee chief Zafar Ali, and 2,750 unidentified persons.
With the Supreme Court’s stay still in place, the Chandausi court has adjourned the matter to September 25. The dispute remains one of the most sensitive temple-mosque cases in Uttar Pradesh, closely watched by both the legal system and the public.
