New Delhi: The Supreme Court, on Monday, refused to stay the offering of a ‘chadar’ on behalf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Ajmer Sharif Dargah in Rajasthan.
The petition was moved by a Hindu outfit on alleged grounds that it would prejudice the claim of Hindu devotees over the site, as reported by The Tribune.
“We are seeking a stay on the offering of Chadar at Ajmer Sharif Dargah by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Our plea regarding Sankat Mochan Mandir there is pending. The offering (of chadar) is today…,” advocate Barun Kumar Sinha, representing Hindu Sena, told the Special Vacation Bench of Chief
Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi.
As Sinha urged the bench to urgently take up the matter today itself, the CJI turned down his request.
“No listing today,” CJI Kant told Sinha.
Later, union minority affairs minister Kiren Rijiju offered the ceremonial chadar during the 814th annual Urs at the tomb of Sufi Saint Khwaja Moinuddin Hasan Chisti on behalf of the Prime Minister.
“I have come to the ‘dargah; during the Urs. While presenting the ‘chadar’, I prayed for peace and prosperity on behalf of the Government of India and the delegation present here. I prayed for the progress of our nation, for peace, harmony, and for the country’s development,” Rijiju told reporters in Ajmer.
Hindu Sena had filed a lawsuit in November last year in an Ajmer court contending that the dargah has been built over a pre-existing temple.
Offering of chadar at the Ajmer Sharif Dargah has been a tradition followed by Prime Ministers, irrespective of their ideological moorings.