NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) challenging the "continued state-sponsored honours, official patronage, and symbolic recognition" extended to Sufi saint Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti and the Ajmer Dargah.
Observing that the reliefs sought were not justiciable, a Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said that such issues could not be decided under Article 32 of the Constitution.
Advising the petitioners to pursue their pending civil suit, the CJI Surya Kant-led Bench clarified that the observations made by the apex court would have no bearing on the suit pending before a civil court in Ajmer regarding the alleged "unauthorised occupation of the Shankat Mochan Mahadev Temple by the Dargah".
The PIL had challenged the alleged practice of the Prime Minister and other constitutional authorities offering a ceremonial chadar at the Ajmer Dargah, terming it unconstitutional, arbitrary, and contrary to India’s constitutional ethos.