Not only the well, the Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal is also on government land! - Yogi Adityanath

The well near the Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal has been named by the Uttar Pradesh government as one of the 19 ancient wells that it plans to restore. In a status report filed in the Supreme Court on Monday (February 24, 2025), the state government has said that the well is on public land. The claim that it is part of a mosque is false.

Note that there is a legal dispute about the royal mosque being actually a Harihar temple. The Supreme Court has stayed the proceedings of the lower court. Meanwhile, the mosque committee filed a petition against the search and excavation of ancient wells in Sambhal. They demanded status quo on the mosque side, especially the well near the premises. The committee said that by digging the well and calling it the well of the temple, worship will start there. On January 10, the Supreme Court had stayed the notification of the municipality calling the well near the Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal as the well of Hari Mandir. The Supreme Court had sought a status report from the UP government, saying the next hearing is on February 25. Now the UP government has filed a reply and said: -

The mosque committee has tried to mislead the court by presenting a wrong photograph. The well is near the mosque complex, not inside it. It has nothing to do with the mosque. The royal mosque itself is built on public land. The well has been used by people of all communities for a long time. After the communal riots in 1978, a police post was built on a part of the well. The second part is still in use. But around 2012, the well was covered.