Supreme Court refuses to entertain plea against puja at Ladle Mashak Dargah on Mahashivaratri

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday declined to entertain a plea seeking to restrain the holding of puja within the premises of the Ladle Mashak Dargah and the samadhi of Hindu Saint Raghava Chaitanya in Karnataka's Aland during Mahashivaratri.

A bench of Justices Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma said Article 32 of the Constitution cannot be invoked by the petitioner, Khalil Ansari, when the issue is pending in the Karnataka High Court.

The shrine, associated with a 14th-century Sufi saint and the 15th-century Hindu saint, has historically been a shared place of worship. However, tensions flared in 2022 when disputes arose over religious rights at the dargah at Kalaburgi leading to communal unrest.

Ansari sought a direction to restrain interference with the property and prevent any "unlawful entry, mobilisation, congregation by the private respondents in the property as well as restrain any interim orders permitting entry and puja".

Senior advocate Vibha Datta Makhija, appearing for the petitioner, submitted that the High Court has already decided the matter. She also said the property was a duly notified waqf property, by the waqf tribunal.

Makhija submitted that the issue involved various issues related to the Places of Worship Act and urged the bench that it may be tagged with similar matters.

She also contended that the petitioner was drawing on his religious rights under Article 26.

"If High Court dismisses your petition, you are most welcome," the bench said.

The bench finally declined to intervene, and the case was dismissed as withdrawn.

In February 2025, the Karnataka High Court had permitted 15 Hindu devotees to perform Shivaratri rituals at the Raghava Chaitanya Shivling.

The plea contended that there was an unmistakable and deeply troubling coordinated pattern to change the character of a religious place by securing interim orders from courts.

It pointed out a writ petition has been filed by Sidramayya Hiremath before the Karnataka High Court, seeking a direction to the State and police authorities to permit him and other devotees to perform puja within the Dargah premises on February 15 on the occasion of Maha Shivaratri, along with police protection.

A similar petition was also filed in 2025 by the same person in which the High Court had allowed 15 persons to enter and conduct puja on Maha Shivaratri.

The plea contended these petitions were being filed year after year around Maha Shivaratri only to create a foothold of religious entry, convert temporary access into an asserted practice, and thereafter reopen the character of the site through repeated litigation.