The Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to entertain a
plea challenging an Allahabad High Court order that asked the Archaeological
Survey of India to whitewash the Mughal-era Jama Masjid in Uttar Pradesh's
Sambhal district.
The high court had on March 12 asked the ASI to
undertake and complete the whitewashing of the mosque within a week.
"We are not inclined to entertain the present
petition. Dismissed," ordered a bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv
Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar.
Appearing for appellant Satish Kumar Aggarwal,
Lawyer Barun Sinha assailed the high court's order, saying the ASI was wrongly
asked to whitewash the wall of the mosque.
In his order, HC judge Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal
had said, "The ASI shall undertake the whitewashing work and complete the
same within a period of one week from today. Further, no extra lighting shall
be put on the walls, as it may cause damage to the monuments, but exterior
lights in the shape of focus lights/LED lights may be used by the ASI for
lighting of the outer area of the alleged Masjid.
"The expenditure incurred in the whitewashing
shall be borne by the Masjid Committee, and the same shall be reimbursed within
one week after the completion of whitewashing work," he had said.
The high court had earlier directed the counsel
appearing for the ASI to come up with specific averments as to what prejudice
would whitewashing of the outer walls of the mosque cause.
Prior to this, a court-ordered survey of a
Mughal-era mosque was undertaken and it led to the violence at Sambhal last
year.