Supreme Court Rejects Petition Against State Honors to Ajmer Sharif Dargah, Calls Issue Non-Justiciable
Supreme Court dismissed petition against ceremonial recognition of Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti and Ajmer Dargah, while noting civil suit remains unaffected
Supreme Court dismissed petition challenging state-sponsored honors to Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti and Ajmer Dargah
The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a petition challenging the extension of state-sponsored ceremonial honors and symbolic recognition to the Ajmer Dargah and Islamic scholar Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti.
During the hearing, counsel for the petitioner noted that the custom of honoring the saint had been followed since 1947 and that a civil suit on the matter was already pending.
Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant remarked that such issues were “not justiciable” and advised the petitioner to pursue the pending civil suit.
The Bench, also comprising of Justice Joymalya Bagchi while dismissing the petition, clarified that its observations would not affect the ongoing civil suit filed by the second petitioner.
The court held that the relief sought in the plea was not legally sustainable.
The civil suit regarding the issue continues in the lower courts.
Notably, on December 22, 2025, the plea seeking to restrain Prime Minister Narendra Modi from offering a ceremonial chadar at the Ajmer Sharif Dargah during the 814th Urs of Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Hasan Chishti was mentioned before the Supreme Court, but the Court declined to urgently list the matter.
The mentioning was made before a vacation Bench of Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi.
The Counsel appearing for the petitioner urged the Court to stay the offering of the chadar, submitting that a related plea concerning the Sankat Mochan Mandir at Ajmer was already pending. “We are seeking stay of offering of chadar in Ajmer Dargah by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Our plea regarding Sankat Mochan Mandir there is pending,” the counsel submitted during the mentioning. However, the CJI was not inclined to entertain the request. “No listing today,” Chief Justice Kant had said, declining urgent consideration of the plea.
According to media reports, Union Minister for Minority Affairs Kiren Rijiju was scheduled to offer the chadar at the Ajmer Sharif Dargah on behalf of Prime Minister Modi as part of the annual Urs. The ceremonial offering of chadar by the Prime Minister has been a long-standing tradition followed by successive Prime Ministers over the years.
The plea mentioned before the Supreme Court is not the first legal challenge connected to the Ajmer Sharif Dargah.
Earlier this year, in January a similar application was moved before a court in Ajmer by Vishnu Gupta, then President of Hindu Sena. That application formed part of an ongoing civil suit alleging that the Ajmer Sharif Dargah was constructed on the site of a demolished Shiva temple.
In the Ajmer court proceedings, Gupta had contended that the Central government’s act of sending a chadar to what he described as a “disputed structure” amounted to interference with the judicial process. He had argued that such ceremonial acts undermined judicial independence and the right to a fair trial, particularly when a dispute concerning the site was pending adjudication before the trial court.
Previously, in September 2024, Vishnu Gupta, the President of Hindu Sena jad moved a civil suit, before a Ajmer District Court, alleging that the Ajmer Dargah in Rajasthan was built over a Shiva temple. The present case had stemmed from a plea filed on September 24, which seeks to officially declare the site in question as 'Bhagwan Shri Sankatmochan Mahadev Virajman Temple.'
The plea, filed by Advocate Shashi Ranjan Singh on behalf of Hindu Sena, stated that historical records and extensive research provide no concrete evidence as to whether the Ajmer Dargah was built on vacant land. Instead, the claims suggested that a Mahadeva temple once stood at the site in question, where the Hindu devotees worshipped their deities before the construction of the Ajmer Dargah. As per the plea, there are allegations that the Muslim invaders destroyed the ancient Shiva Temple and subsequently built the Ajmer Dargah over it.
According to the plea, 'Books' and 'Evidence' also claim that the roof design of the main entrance gate of the Ajmer Shrine resembles a traditional Hindu structure.
Case Title: Jitendra Singh v. Union of India
Bench: CJI Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi
Hearing Date: January 5, 2026