Overview
- At the Indore bench on Monday, a division bench led by Justices Vijay Kumar Shukla and Alok Awasthi began day-to-day hearings and heard Hindu counsel argue the complex is a Saraswati temple supported by the ASI survey.
- During Tuesday’s session, the bench noted that puja or namaz does not have to occur only in a temple or a mosque, reflecting arguments that prayer at a place does not by itself fix its legal character.
- Also on Tuesday in Dhar, AHP leader Pravin Togadia joined a sit-in and called for restoring the Vagdevi idol and ending Friday namaz at the site, as hundreds gathered for collective recitation and rituals.
- By Wednesday, Hindu petitioners expanded arguments that a consecrated temple retains its religious and legal status even after demolition, cited the Ayodhya judgment on juristic deity rights, and said the site was never validly declared Waqf.
- The core evidence before the court is an ASI survey exceeding 2,000 pages that reports Parmar-era temple remains and reuse of temple elements, which Muslim parties contest, while a 2003 ASI order still limits Hindu worship to Tuesdays and Friday namaz for Muslims.