A civil court in Chandausi, Sambhal district, has postponed the hearing of the contentious Shahi Jama Masjid-Harihar temple dispute to August 21 due to a strike by the local bar association, triggered by heavy rains. The case, listed before Civil Judge (Senior Division) Aditya Singh, centers on claims that the 16th-century Mughal-era mosque was built over a demolished Hindu temple.

The dispute began on November 19, 2024, when Hindu petitioners, including advocates Hari Shankar Jain and Vishnu Shankar Jain, filed a suit asserting that the Shahi Jama Masjid stands on the site of an ancient Harihar temple, allegedly razed by Mughal emperor Babur in 1526. A court-ordered survey was conducted on the same day, followed by a second survey on November 24, which sparked violent clashes, resulting in four deaths and injuries to 29 police personnel.

The Uttar Pradesh police filed FIRs against Samajwadi Party MP Ziaur Rahman Barq, mosque committee head Zafar Ali, and 2,750 unidentified individuals, with 96 arrests made, including Ali.

Advocate Shri Gopal Sharma, representing the Hindu petitioners, confirmed the deferral, stating, “Due to the bar association strike, the court has fixed August 21 as the next date.” Advocate Shakil Ahmad Warsi, representing the mosque committee, noted the strike was weather-related. The Muslim side challenged the case’s maintainability in the Allahabad High Court, but on May 19, 2025, the High Court upheld the trial court’s survey order, directing proceedings to continue.

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The Supreme Court, on November 29, 2024, had directed the trial court to pause proceedings until the mosque committee’s challenge was heard by the High Court, emphasizing the need for “peace and harmony.” The case, which contravenes the Places of Worship Act, 1991, prohibiting changes to religious sites’ status as of 1947, remains a flashpoint for communal tensions.

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