Temple Suit Will Become Baseless: Plea In Ajmer Court Against Offering Of PM Modi's Chadar At Ajmer Sharif Dargah

An application has been filed before a court in Ajmer seeking a temporary injunction to prevent the offering of a Chadar at the Ajmer Sharif Dargah on behalf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi tomorrow on the occasion of the Urs of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti – the 13th-century Sufi saint.

The application has been moved in a suit already pending before Ajmer Court, claiming that the Ajmer Sharif Dargah was built over the remains of a Shiva temple. Hindu Sena President Vishnu Gupta has moved the suit and this application.

#JustIn | An application has been filed before a court in #Ajmer seeking a temporary injunction to prevent the offering of a Chadar at the #AjmerSharifDargah on behalf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/6kgElHYPN4

— Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) January 3, 2025

The application argues that the Central Government, by sending a Chadar to the 'disputed' structure while a suit is pending in connection with the same before the Court, undermines judicial independence and the right to a fair hearing.

"...giving any political legitimacy to the disputed structure by sending a Chadar will not only hamper the court process but will also taint the court's independence, due to which the entire case will become baseless": the application states. The matter will likely be heard by the court tomorrow.

Gupta's pending suit also seeks directions to the ASI to conduct a survey of the dargah, the mausoleum of Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti and to reconstruct Bhagwan Shri Sankatmochan Mahadev Temple at the site after the removal of the present structure.

In his suit, Gupta (in the capacity of Bhagwan Shri Sankatmochan Mahadev Virajman's next friend) claims that the Dargah appears to have been built on the sites of old Hindu temples, partly by converting and partly by adding to the structures already existing, as was usual in the times of the early Muslim ruler.

The suit adds that a Shiva Linga lies beneath the underground passage to the cellar within the complex, and the right to worship the deity of Hindus under Article 25 of the Constitution of India is being continuously infringed by the defendants. Last month, the Ajmer Court issued a notice to the ASI.

PM Modi has been sending a 'chadar' to the shrine annually since 2014 when he became the Prime Minister. This is the tenth time he has sent a Chadar to the shrine. The PM handed the Chadar over to the Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Minister of Minority Affairs, Kiren Rijiju, on Thursday.

Greetings on the Urs of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti. May this occasion bring happiness and peace into everyone's lives. https://t.co/vKZDwEROli

— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 2, 2025