Supreme Court to examine plea against Maha Shivaratri celebrations at Aland dargah of Hindu saint

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to examine a plea to restrain holding of Maha Shivaratri puja in the premises of the Ladle Mashaik Dargah and samadhi of Hindu Saint Raghava Chaitanya and to prevent any construction at the site at Aland in Kalaburgi district of Karnataka, that may alter its present religious character.

The plea was mentioned before a bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi for urgent hearing.

Senior advocate Vibha Datta Makhija submitted that there is an Aland Dargah in Gulbarga and now they want to hold Shivaratri festivals. "If we can have it heard before February 15,'' she urged.

The bench said, it would consider the request, but expressed concern over such matters being increasingly filed directly before the Supreme Court without first approaching the High Courts concerned.

"Why is everything coming in Article 32 of the Constitution? The impression created is that pleas are coming because the law is convenient, and message going is that High Court is defunct. We will examine," the bench said.

The matter was related to the 14th century Sufi saint, Hazrat Shaikh Alauddin Ansari, also known as Ladle Mashaik, and 15th-century Hindu saint Raghava Chaitanya, located in the same premises.

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 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.