The Supreme Court today i.e., September 16, 2019, has sent the petition pertaining to the demolition of Guru Ravidas temple in Delhi's Tughlakabad area to the Bench of Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, which will now allocate another Bench for the sensitive matter.

A two-judge Bench headed by Justice R. Banumathi was hearing a plea filed by former members of parliament from the Congress party – Ashok Tanwar and Pradeep Jain seeking a direction to re-build the shrine, allow people to offer prayers, restore idols and pond at the site.

Before sending the matter to the Chief Justice of India, the Bench, also comprising of Justice A.S. Bopanna, took on record the petition filed by the duo which states that “The site at which the temple/Guru Dham and ‘Samadhi’ were present is pious and of immense faith to the believers as Saint Guru Ravidas had stayed at the site, and it was given to him by Sultan Sikander Lodhi in 1509.”

It said that the land, where the temple was situated, is of “utmost historical and religious importance” to all followers of Saint Guru Ravidas as the Guru himself had lived there.

The DDA had demolished the temple pursuant to the orders of the apex court, which had on August 9, 2019, observed that “serious breach” had been committed by Guru Ravidas Jayanti Samaroh Samiti by not vacating the forest area as earlier ordered by the top court.

The temple’s demolition had provoked large scale protests on August 21, 2019, by members of the Dalit community in the National Capital. The Delhi Police at the night of the incident detained over 50 protesters including Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad.