Overview
- On Tuesday the Supreme Court refused to stay the Madhya Pradesh High Court’s May 15 ruling that held the Bhojshala‑Kamal Maula complex to be a Saraswati temple and therefore declined to restore Friday namaz inside the protected site.
- As a temporary measure the court directed authorities to provide a separate open area adjacent to the monument for Friday prayers between 1 pm and 3 pm until the appeals are decided.
- The bench issued notices to the parties, restrained the Archaeological Survey of India from carrying out any structural alterations without the court’s permission, and said it will list the matter for fuller hearing on an urgent basis within about 10 to 21 days.
- The High Court’s May 15 decision rested on a 2024 ASI survey that reported inscriptions, sculptures and architectural fragments consistent with an earlier Paramara‑period temple and quashed a 2003 ASI arrangement that had permitted Friday namaz.
- The dispute raises practical questions about who may worship at the site, whether the ASI findings can be contested in writ proceedings, and how the state might offer alternative land for a mosque while the court seeks to prevent law‑and‑order fallout.