Indore, May 12 -- A regular hearing on the issue of the religious nature of the disputed Bhojshala Temple-Kamal Maula Mosque complex in Dhar concluded before the Madhya Pradesh High Court on Tuesday with the judges reserving their decision.

Justices Vijay Kumar Shukla and Alok Awasthi of the Indore bench of the High Court were hearing the case on a daily basis from April 6.

The dispute pertains to the religious nature of the Bhojshala complex, an Archaeological Survey of India-protected monument in Dhar district. Hindu litigants claimed that it was originally a temple of Goddess Vagdevi or Saraswati while Muslims claimed that it was a mosque. A Jain petitioner claimed that the disputed structure was a Jain temple.

On the final day of the hearing, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Sunil Kumar Jain, representing the ASI, refuted the Muslim side's argument that its report was "biased" and designed to support the Hindu claim.

The ASI, in its over 2,000-page report of a scientific survey of the monument, had indicated that a massive structure dating to the reign of the Parmar kings of Dhar existed earlier, and the current disputed structure was built by reusing parts of temples.

ASG Jain said that the survey was carried out with the help of experts. The survey team included three Muslim experts, and representatives of the community were also present during the process.

"There is no question of any bias on the part of the ASI towards any community," said the ASG.

The Muslim side contended that the High Court order regarding scientific survey had called for carbon dating, but the ASI did not carry out the process to determine the age of the disputed structure.

The ASG said that carbon dating is used to determine the age of objects of organic nature, and is not useful for stone structures.

Referring to the ASI report, he said, "The ASI has expertise in conducting scientific investigation and archaeological excavations/scientific clearance of buried structures in and around the protected monuments and to ascertain their date."

The existing structure, exposed structures, and archaeological remains retrieved from the excavation are of historical period. As adequate datable material is available to ascertain their age, they were dated on stylistic grounds, and on palaeography, as they belong to the medieval period, Jain said.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.