Plea by man to take part in ASI's survey of Bhojshala-Mosque complex rejected by MP High Court

Indore: The Indore bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court has turned down the plea of a man seeking permission to take part in the ongoing scientific survey being carried out of the Bhojshala-Kamal Maula Mosque complex in Dhar by the Archaeological Survey of India.

The application of Kuldeep Tiwari, one of the petitioners on whose plea the HC ordered the survey, was dismissed by a division bench comprising Justices SA Dharmadhikari and Gajendra Singh on Thursday.

"The survey is on the verge of completion. Ultimately, the bunch of petitions shall be finally decided based on the report of the ASI after completion of the survey," the bench observed while dismissing the application.

"In view of the aforesaid, no ground is made out to permit the petitioner to participate or remain present during the survey," read the order, which was uploaded on the MP HC on Friday.

The scientific survey was ordered by the HC on March 11 and its started on March 22.

The Hindus consider Bhojshala, an ASI-protected 11th century monument, to be a temple dedicated to Vagdevi (Goddess Saraswati), while the Muslim community calls it Kamal Maula Mosque.

As per the arrangement made by the ASI on April 7, 2003, Hindus perform puja in the Bhojshala premises on Tuesdays, while Muslims offer namaz in the complex on Fridays.