What prejudice will whitewashing walls of Sambhal mosque cause: HC asks ASI

Hearing a matter related to the whitewashing of the Jama Masjid in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal, the Allahabad High Court on Monday directed the counsel appearing for the Archeological Survey of India (ASI) to come up with specific averments as to what prejudice would whitewashing the outer walls of the mosque cause.

Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal passed the direction while hearing an objection raised by the mosque committee saying it sought permission only for whitewashing and lighting the outer side of the masjid, for which no specific reply was received from the ASI.

The ASI is only talking about the interior side of the mosque, S F A Naqvi, counsel for the committee, argued.

Posting the matter for next hearing on March 12, Justice Agarwal directed the Sambhal district magistrate to produce the original agreement entered in 1927 between the administration and the mosque committee to handover the masjid to the ASI.

On February 28, the ASI submitted a report stating that the interior of the mosque has been painted with ceramic colour and there is no need for whitewashing it at present.

In response, Naqvi submitted that they only wanted whitewashing and lightning of the outer walls of the mosque.

The court then asked the ASI to get the dust and overgrown grass on the mosque premises cleared.