A Division Bench of Justices Vijay Kumar Shukla and Rajesh Kumar Gupta in Indore on Friday (March 20, 2026) heard the petition filed by a Delhi-based activist Salek Chand Jain, who has claimed the existence of a Jain temple and a gurukul beneath the existing structure. The petitioner also sought rights for the Jain community to worship at the site, similar to the permissions granted to Hindus and Muslims.
The court has granted two weeks time to the government authorities to file their objections after they raised questions at the maintainability of the plea as a public interest litigation (PIL). The matter has been listed for April 2.
“Certain objections are raised by learned counsel for respondents regarding the maintainability of the present petition as a PIL. Considering the same, they are granted time to file their short reply/objection before the next date of hearing,” it said.
The fresh plea comes just days after another Division Bench of the High Court, hearing the dispute between the Hindu and Muslim community representatives, said that it will visit the disputed site before the next hearing. On Thursday, a team of the Indore High Court also visited the site.
The next hearing of this case is also on April 2 and the court has asked all parties to present their final arguments or objections to the scientific survey report filed by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).
