The Supreme Court on Friday heard the Dhar Bhojshala-Kamal Maula Mosque case in Madhya Pradesh. The administration and the Muslim petitioners presented their arguments over the location for offering Friday prayers.
During the hearing, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told the court that the government and representatives of both communities were holding discussions to find a suitable alternative site. He requested that the matter be listed on Tuesday or Wednesday.
Appearing for the Muslim petitioners, Senior Advocate Huzaifa Ahmadi said the community had already missed Friday prayers for two consecutive weeks. He told the court that, despite its earlier order, the administration had not provided an alternative site within or near the Bhojshala complex.
After hearing both sides, the Supreme Court fixed Tuesday, 29 July, for the hearing of the interim application (IA). On 22 July, the court had directed the administration to provide land near the Bhojshala complex for Friday prayers.
Ahmadi said the administration was offering a site about 1.3 km away by road instead of a nearby location. Mehta responded that the site was around 900 metres away. Ahmadi replied, “That is the aerial distance. We do not have helicopters.”
Mehta also sought permission to file an affidavit in the matter. The Chief Justice said the interim application would be taken up for hearing on Tuesday, 29 July.
Administration’s fresh proposal also turned down
In line with the Supreme Court’s directions, the district administration held another round of talks with representatives of the Muslim community on Thursday night and suggested additional locations for prayers. These proposals were also rejected.
Representatives of the Muslim community said they should be allowed to offer Namaz at their traditional place of worship, maintaining that the Supreme Court’s order envisaged an alternative site close to Bhojshala.
The Muslim community says that they should be given a place for Namaz near Bhojshala.
Community says law and order was never affected
Abdul Samad said that when Friday prayers were previously held at the Bhojshala complex, there had been no law and order issues. He added that even after prayers at the site stopped, no disputes had arisen, questioning the need for a prayer venue located far away.
Referring to an earlier incident, Samad said that on 23 January, during Basant Panchami, the administration had conducted a dummy Namaz at a site that was actually part of a graveyard.
He said the Muslim community had objected at the time because Friday prayers are not offered in a graveyard, and this argument was also placed before the Supreme Court.
On Basant Panchami, the Muslim community offered namaz at this very spot in the Bhojshala complex.
Background of the legal dispute
The dispute stems from Petition No. 10497/2022, filed on 2 May 2022 before the Indore Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court by Advocate Vinay Joshi, along with Harishankar Jain of the Hindu Front for Justice, the organisation’s national president Ranjana Agnihotri, and Advocate Vishnushankar Jain.
On 15 May 2026, the High Court granted relief to petitioners Ranjana Agnihotri, Ashish Goyal, Ashish Janak, Mohit Garg and Sunil Saraswat. The Muslim side subsequently challenged the High Court’s decision in the Supreme Court, which heard the matter on 14 July.
