Bhojshala Jain temple plea: High court directs respondents to file replies

Indore: The Indore bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court on Friday directed the state, centre and other respondents in Bhojshala-Kamal Maula Masjid complex case to file their replies to a PIL claiming the existence of a medieval Jain temple and gurukul within the disputed monument in Dhar district.The Bench, comprising Justice Vijay Kumar Shukla and Justice Rajesh Kumar Gupta, issued the directions on a PIL by one Salekh Chand Jain, a Delhi-based social worker, seeking the right to worship for Jain community at the monument.State and centre's counsels present in the courtroom questioned the maintainability of the petition, claiming that a bunch of pleas were pending before the court for hearing on April 2.The Bench directed: "Certain objections are raised by learned counsel for respondents regarding the maintainability of the present petition as a PIL. Considering the same, they are granted time to file their short reply/objection before the next date of hearing."The court is already seized of the matter after an ASI scientific survey concluded that the existing monument was built using temple parts dating back to the Parmara dynasty. The court sought objections, recommendations and suggestions from the parties on April 2, besides planning to visit the site ahead of the next hearing.The current PIL claims that the Bhojshala complex once housed a Jain temple and gurukul, and therefore, under Articles 25, 26, and 29 of the Constitution (dealing with religious freedom and cultural rights), followers of Jainism have the right to worship in the complex.The petitioner also claims that the idol of the Bhojshala complex — currently housed in the British Museum in London — is that of Goddess Ambika, a Jain Yakshini. Hindus have been claiming that the idol was of Vagdevi (Goddess Saraswati) and the monument was in fact ‘Saraswati Sadan'.The Muslims have been claiming that the structure was Kamal Maula Mosque, a fact they claim was verified by ASI way back in 1903.