The Supreme Court on Thursday allowed Hindu prayers from sunrise to sunset during Basant Panchami on Friday at the disputed Bhojshala-Kamal Maula mosque complex in Madhya Pradesh’s Dhar district, PTI reported.

Basant Panchami is a Hindu festival that marks the arrival of spring and is dedicated to the deity Saraswati.

A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul M Pancholi also permitted Muslims to offer namaz between 1 pm and 3 pm on the day. It directed that a list of persons coming to offer namaz be submitted to the district administration.

The 11th-century structure, protected by the Archaeological Survey of India, is claimed by both Hindus and Muslims. While the Hindus believe that the Bhojshala is a temple dedicated to the deity Vagdevi, or Saraswati, the building is a mosque for the Muslim community.

Under an arrangement made by the Archaeological Survey of India in April 2003, Hindus perform prayers on the premises on Tuesdays and Muslims offer namaz in the complex on Fridays.

Hindu and Muslim groups had sought permission to conduct religious activities at the complex on Basant Panchami, which is on Friday.

On Thursday, the bench also ordered the district administration to ensure that law and order arrangements were in place at the site for offering prayers, the news agency reported.

“We appeal both sides to observe mutual respect and trust towards each other,” Bar and Bench quoted the Supreme Court as saying.

In May 2022, the Hindu Front for Justice filed a public interest litigation against the Archaeological Survey of India’s 2003 arrangement. The group has argued that the Kamal Maula mosque was constructed during the reign of Alauddin Khilji between the 13th century and 14th century by “destroying and dismantling ancient structures of previously constructed Hindu temples”.

In March 2024, the Madhya Pradesh High Court said that a “complete scientific investigation, survey and excavation, through the adoption of latest methods, techniques and modes of ground penetrating radar and global positioning system survey” should be carried out at the site.

It had, at the time, directed the Archaeological Survey of India to conduct a survey at the site to identify the “true character” of the complex.

Following which a special leave petition was filed in the Supreme Court by the Maulana Kamaluddin Welfare Society in Dhar challenging the High Court’s interim order on conducting a survey.

In April 2024, the Supreme Court passed an interim order allowing the survey to continue, but without any physical excavation. The bench also restrained any action on the outcome of the survey without its permission.

In July 2024, the Archaeological Survey of India claimed that the existing mosque structure at the Bhojshala-Kamal Maula mosque complex was constructed using parts from earlier temples at the site.

In the report submitted to the High Court, the agency said that the archaeological remains recovered during its scientific survey reveal that the pre-existing structure “can be dated to the Paramara [dynasty] period”.

“From art and architecture of decorated pillars and pilasters, it can be said that they were part of earlier temples and were reused while making colonnades of the mosque over the high platform of basalt,” the report had stated.