Hindu and Muslim parties have declined the Supreme Court’s proposal for mediation in the disputes relating to the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi, the Shahi Idgah mosque in Mathura and the Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal, Bar and Bench reported on Monday.

The litigants will continue to pursue the cases in court.

The court had sought consent of parties involved in the three cases to engage in mediation of the disputes under the 2026 Supreme Court Action for Mediated Adjudication and Disputes Harmonization Across Nation Samadhan Samaroh. The initiative began in April and will conclude with a Special Lok Adalat in August.

In the Gyanvapi case, the Hindu litigants have claimed that an oval-shaped object found on the mosque premises in May 2022 is a shivling, a representation of the Hindu deity Shiva. However, the caretaker committee of the mosque has maintained that the object was a defunct fountainhead in the wazu khana, or ablution tank.

In January 2024, a Varanasi court allowed Hindus to offer prayers in the basement of the Gyanvapi complex after an Archaeological Survey of India report claimed that a Hindu temple that existed at the site was destroyed in the 17th century and built over.

In the Shahi Idgah case, the plaintiffs have claimed that the mosque was built at the spot where Hindu deity Krishna was born after demolishing a temple there.

The Sambhal mosque dispute stems from a petition claiming that the Shahi Jama Masjid was built in 1526 by Mughal ruler Babar on the site of the “centuries-old Shri Hari Har Temple dedicated to Lord Kalki”.

In November 2024, a civil court in Sambhal ordered a survey of the mosque. Violence erupted in Sambhal when a team returned to conduct a second survey. Five persons were killed in the violence.

Edited by Nachiket Deuskar.