SC rejects plea against PM Modi’s ceremonial chadar at Ajmer dargah

India’s Supreme Court on Monday rejected a public interest litigation (PIL) to restrain Prime Minister Narendra Modi from offering a ceremonial chadar at Ajmer Sharif Dargah stating the court cannot decide on such matters. The PIL was filed by Jitender Singh, president of the Vishwa Vedic Sanatan Sangh, through advocate Barun Kumar Sinha.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had offered the ceremonial chadar at the tomb of Sufi Saint Khwaja Moinuddin Hasan Chisti during the 814th annual Urs.

A bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi ruled that the dispute could not be resolved by the court. The judges added that the matter was now moot, given that the chadar offering had already occurred.

During the hearing, petitioner Sinha argued that the plea challenged the “state-sponsored ceremonial honours, official patronage, and symbolic recognition” given to Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti, asserting that the Ajmer Dargah does not qualify as a religious denomination under Article 26 of the Constitution, citing the 1961 Supreme Court judgment in Dargah Committee, Ajmer Vs Syed Hussain Ali.

He informed the court of a 2024 civil suit pending in Ajmer, alleging unauthorised occupation of a Hindu temple by the dargah. 

Unpersuaded, the bench led by CJI Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi ruled the issues non-justiciable under writ jurisdiction and dismissed the petition, clarifying that the order would not impact the ongoing civil suit, weeks after denying urgent listing ahead of the 814th Urs when Union Minister Kiren Rijiju offered the chadar on behalf of PM Narendra Modi, a tradition followed since Independence. 

The plea had questioned the constitutional validity of such patronage, citing historical claims of Chishti’s arrival during 12th-century invasions by Shahabuddin Ghori and seeking a ban on state officials offering ceremonial homage like the chadar at the dargah.

“The case is infructuous and raises no justiciable issues. The writ petition is dismissed," the Supreme Court declared. That said, the ruling will have no effect on the separate civil case pending in the Ajmer court over the dargah.