The Supreme Court on Monday rejected a petition seeking to stop Prime Minister Narendra Modi from offering a chadar at the Ajmer Sharif Dargah, Bar and Bench reported.

The bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi held that the matter had become infructuous as the offering had already been made in December.

It added that the matter was “not a justiciable issue” or one that can be decided by court, the legal news outlet reported.

However, the court clarified that the order will have “no bearing” on a pending civil suit, which claims that the shrine of 13th century Sufi mystic Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti was built over a Shiva temple.

The application against the annual offering was moved by Hindu Sena chief Vishnu Gupta in January 2025, who contended that the act would provide “political legitimacy” to what he claimed is a disputed structure.

In his original suit, Gupta sought directions that the Ajmer Sharif Dargah be declared as Bhagwan Shri Sankatmochan Mahadev Virajman temple. The plea seeks the removal of the dargah committee from the premises and asks for a survey of the site by the Archaeological Survey of India.

The petitioner has claimed that the roof design at the main entrance resembles a Hindu structure, suggesting that the site was originally a temple.

Since 2014, Modi has customarily sent a chadar to the shrine every year for the Urs, a ceremony at the dargah to mark the death anniversary of the Sufi mystic. The practice had been followed by previous prime ministers as well.

Gupta had argued that the practice was initiated by former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1947 and had continued since then without any legal or constitutional basis, Live Law reported.

The writ petition against the offering was made before Modi sent the customary chadar in January 2025.

Notably, a subsequent offering was made by Union Minister for Minority Affairs Kiren Rijiju on December 22 on behalf of Modi.

In December 2024, the Supreme Court barred trial courts from passing orders, including survey directions, in pending lawsuits concerning the religious character of places of worship.

It also said that no new suits can be registered in any court across the country until further orders while it hears a clutch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the 1991 Places of Worship Special Provisions Act.

The Act does not allow any changes to the religious character of a place of worship as it existed on August 15, 1947.

There are presently at least 18 suits pending in courts across the country concerning 10 mosques and shrines, including the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi, the Shahi Eidgah mosque in Mathura and the Atala Mosque in Jaunpur. Hindu litigants in these cases have claimed that these structures were built after demolishing ancient Hindu temples.