India, May 21 -- The managing committee of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)-protected Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal that is the subject of an ongoing litigation in the Supreme Court has sought urgent permission from ASI to repair a damaged boundary wall and a deteriorating main gate.

The move has been opposed by Hindu petitioners who claim it is an attempt to destroy evidence of a temple that they believe lies beneath the structure.

Committee president Zafar Ali, in his letter to the Superintending Archaeologist of ASI's Meerut division, said that on February 11, monkeys dislodged a section of the wall near the police guard post adjacent to the main gate. The letter warned that the remaining portion could collapse at any time, en...