Indore, May 12 A regular hearing on the issue of the religious nature of the disputed Bhojshala Temple-Kamal Maula Mosque complex in Dhar concluded before the Madhya Pradesh High Court on Tuesday with the judges reserving their decision.
Justices Vijay Kumar Shukla and Alok Awasthi of the Indore bench of the High Court were hearing the case on a daily basis from April 6.
The dispute pertains to the religious nature of the Bhojshala complex, an Archaeological Survey of India-protected monument in Dhar district. Hindu litigants claimed that it was originally a temple of Goddess Vagdevi or Saraswati while Muslims claimed that it was a mosque. A Jain petitioner claimed that the disputed structure was a Jain temple.
On the final day of the hearing, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Sunil Kumar Jain, representing the ASI, refuted the Muslim side's argument that its report was "biased" and designed to support the Hindu claim.
The ASI, in its over 2,000-page report of a scientific survey of the monument, had indicated that a massive structure dating to the reign of the Parmar kings of Dhar existed earlier, and the current disputed structure was built by reusing parts of temples.
ASG Jain said that the survey was carried out with the help of experts. The survey team included three Muslim experts, and representatives of the community were also present during the process.
"There is no question of any bias on the part of the ASI towards any community," said the ASG.
The Muslim side contended that the High Court order regarding scientific survey had called for carbon dating, but the ASI did not carry out the process to determine the age of the disputed structure.
The ASG said that carbon dating is used to determine the age of objects of organic nature, and is not useful for stone structures.
Referring to the ASI report, he said, "The ASI has expertise in conducting scientific investigation and archaeological excavations/scientific clearance of buried structures in and around the protected monuments and to ascertain their date."
The existing structure, exposed structures, and archaeological remains retrieved from the excavation are of historical period. As adequate datable material is available to ascertain their age, they were dated on stylistic grounds, and on palaeography, as they belong to the medieval period, Jain said.
He also rejected the Muslim side's claim that a statue of Gautam Buddha was found during the ASI survey.
Earlier, Syed Ashar Ali Warsi, the lawyer for an intervener on the Muslim side, claimed that a statue in London's British Museum, claimed to be that of Goddess Vagdevi and taken from Bhojshala, was actually a statue of a Jain Yakshini and it was found in the Rajwada Palace in Dhar, about half a kilometer away.
As per the Jain petitioner, the disputed complex contained a medieval Jain temple and 'gurukul' (school), and the statue in British Museum is that of Jain Yakshini Ambika.
The Hindu Front for Justice which filed a public interest litigation (PIL) on the issue claimed before the court that Bhojshala was originally a Saraswati temple established in 1034 by King Bhoj of the Parmar dynasty, which was demolished in 1305 "on the orders of Alauddin Khilji" during his invasion of the Malwa region.
The organisation also claimed that the temple's remains were reused to build a mosque.
During the hearing, the Muslim side raised the issue of jurisdiction and repeatedly insisted that the Hindu side's petition was essentially a civil suit and should be tried in a civil court.
Indore, May 12 The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Tuesday reserved its decision on the Bhojshala Complex -Kamal Maula Mosque dispute after the hearing of the case, going on for about a month, concluded.
Justices Vijay Kumar Shukla and Alok Awasthi of the Indore bench of the High Court heard five petitions and a writ appeal filed by Hindu, Muslim and Jain organisations from April 6.
After the arguments ended on Tuesday, the court reserved its decision which would be pronounced in due course.
The dispute pertains to the religious nature of the Bhojshala complex, an Archaeological Survey of India-protected monument in Dhar district. Hindu litigants claim that it was originally a temple of Goddess Vagdevi or Saraswati while Muslims claim that it is the Kamal Maula Mosque.
Jains have also claimed that the disputed structure was a Jain temple.
The legal issues involved complexities of different religious beliefs, historical events and legal provisions related to the disputed monument as well as thousands of documents.
The ASI, in its over 2,000-page report of a scientific survey of the monument, indicated that a massive structure dating to the reign of the Parmar kings of Dhar existed earlier, and the current disputed structure was built by reusing parts of temples.
