Supreme Court extends status quo in Sambhal mosque row

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday extended by two weeks its order directing status quo over the Sambhal mosque dispute in Uttar Pradesh.

A bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Alok Radhe said two appeals were filed in the matter by Committee of Management Jami Masjid Sambhal represented by its secretary and vice president, respectively.

The top court subsequently directed its registry to enquire into the matter and submit a report.

Appearing for the Hindu plaintiffs in the suit, advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain opposed the extension of the status quo.

Senior advocate Huzeifa Ahmadi, who was representing the mosque management, however, sought the extension till the report's submission.

The top court was hearing an appeal filed by the Masjid committee against an order of the Allahabad High Court which dismissed its plea against the survey ordered by a Sambhal court in the Shahi Jama Masjid and Harihar Temple dispute, upholding the civil court's direction for the survey.

The high court said the order to appoint a court commissioner and the suit were maintainable.

The mosque committee moved the high court against the November 19 last year order of the civil judge directing the Mughal-era mosque' survey which took place the same day.

A second survey carried out on November 24 last year, the committee claimed, was illegal as the civil court never ordered it.