New Delhi, May 16 -- The Bhojshala-Kamal Maula Mosque disputed site in Dhar district, which the Madhya Pradesh High Court on Friday ruled is a temple dedicated to Goddess Saraswati, is among the prominent legal cases in the country regarding the religious character of places of worship.

The high court quashed a decades-old order of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) that only allowed the Muslim community to offer Friday prayers at the site while restricting the right of Hindus to worship within the complex.

Apart from the Ayodhya title dispute, in which the Supreme Court order in 2019 led to the building of a Ram temple at the site, here are some of the other similar significant cases.

In most of these, the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, which mandates maintaining the religious character of a place as it existed on August 15, 1947, has been cited during litigation.

There are over six petitions challenging various provisions of the 1991 law pending adjudication in the top court.

Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah Mosque, Mathura, Uttar Pradesh

The case pertains to a 13.37-acre complex in Mathura that included the Krishna Janmabhoomi temple complex, believed to be Lord Krishna's birthplace, and the Shahi Idgah mosque.

While the Hindu community has claimed that the Shahi Idgah mosque was built over an earlier temple at the birthplace of the deity during Mughal emperor Aurangzeb's reign in the 17th century, the Muslim side has invoked the Places of Worship Act, 1991.

Kashi Vishwanath temple-Gyanvapi Mosque, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh

The dispute surrounding two religious structures, situated adjacent to each other in the holy city of Varanasi, is among the three most high-profile cases along with Ayodhya and Mathura. The Hindu side has claimed that the original Kashi Vishwanath temple was demolished during Aurangzeb's reign and the Gyanvapi Mosque was built over it.

The Muslim side has asserted that the dispute is barred by the Places of Worship Act, as they have been offering prayers at the mosque continuously for centuries.

Shahi Jama Masjid, Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh

In 2024, Sambhal district became the centre of a controversy after a local court ordered a survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid on a suit by a Hindu devotee alleging that it was built at the site of an ancient Hindu temple.

The Hindu side has claimed that the Shahi Jama Masjid was built during Mughal emperor Babur's reign in 1526 after destroying the Harihar temple devoted to Lord Vishnu's final avatar Kalki.

Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque, Delhi

Hindu and Jain devotees filed a suit in a civil court in Delhi in 2021 for the restoration of Hindu and Jain deities inside the Qutub Minar complex, claiming that 27 temples were partly demolished by Qutubdin Aibak, a general in the army of Mohamad Gauri, and the Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque was raised inside the complex by reusing the material.

The ASI said the mosque was inside the Qutub complex, a protected monument, and no religious worship is currently permitted there.

Idgah Maidan, Hubballi (Karnataka)

In 2022, the local authorities allowed Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations at Hubballi Idgah Maidan in Karnataka, which faced Opposition from Anjuman-e-Islam.

The Karnataka High Court upheld the order of the Dharwad municipal commissioner, holding that the property belonged to the Dharwad municipality and Anjuman-e-Islam was only a leaseholder for a period of 999 years at a fee of Re 1 per year.

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