SC orders temporary Friday prayer space at Bhojshala

The Supreme Court has directed the Madhya Pradesh government to provide an adjacent open space for Muslims to offer Friday prayers while it considers appeals against a High Court ruling that declared the disputed Bhojshala complex a Hindu temple. The order, issued on Tuesday, July 14, 2026, grants limited interim relief but declines to restore the previous arrangement for worship inside the monument.

A three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant, ordered that the identified open area be made available for Friday prayers between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. The arrangement is temporary and subject to the final outcome of the appeals. The court also directed the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) not to undertake any structural alterations to the complex without its prior permission. The bench issued notices to the Madhya Pradesh government, Hindu parties, and the ASI, scheduling a hearing on the substantive appeals within the next few weeks.

The interim measure follows the Madhya Pradesh High Court's verdict on May 15, which declared the Bhojshala/Kamal Maula Mosque complex in Dhar district a temple dedicated to Goddess Saraswati. That judgment quashed a 2003 ASI order that had...