New Delhi, November 28: The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on Friday a petition challenging the November 19 order of a district court, which directed that a survey be undertaken of a Mughal-era mosque in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal. According to the cause list of November 29 uploaded on the apex court website, a bench headed by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna is scheduled to hear the plea filed by the Committee of Management, Shahi Jama Masjid, Sambhal. Sambhal Communal Violence Probe: 1 More Arrested in Connection With Clashes That Broke Out in Uttar Pradesh Over Mosque Survey, Internet Services Remain Suspended.

The plea has sought an ex-parte stay on the operation of the November 19 order passed by the civil judge. "The hot haste in which the survey was allowed and conducted all within a day and suddenly another survey was conducted with a notice of barely six hours has given rise to widespread communal tensions and threatens the secular and democratic fabric of the nation," it said. Sambhal Violence: Uttar Pradesh Police Release Photos of Rioters Including 3 Women.

Tension has been brewing in Sambhal since November 19 when the court-ordered survey of the Shahi Jama Masjid was carried out following claims that a Harihar temple previously stood at the site. Violence erupted on November 24 as protesters gathered near the mosque and clashed with security personnel, leading to stone pelting and arson. Four people died and scores of others were injured in the violence.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)