Supreme Court Dismisses Plea Against Ceremonial Offering Of 'Chadar' At Ajmer Sharif Dargah

The Supreme Court today dismissed a writ petition challenging the long-standing tradition of offering ceremonial honours and ‘Chadar’ at the Ajmer Sharif Dargah.

The public interest litigation (PIL) sought a permanent injunction to restrain the Prime Minister and other government officials from the tradition of offering a ceremonial chadar at the Ajmer Dargah on behalf of the State.

The bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi ordered, "In our considered opinion, no issue sought to be raised is justiciable. The writ petition is accordingly dismissed. However, these proceedings shall have no bearing on the civil suit number 66/2024, which is stated to have been filed by petitioner number two and is pending before the civil court at Ajmer."

Advocate Barun Kumar Sinha appeared on behalf of the Petitioner.

It argued that the practice of offering a ceremonial ‘Chadar’ on behalf of the Union of India and other state entities was a constitutional issue. He contended that such practices, though followed since 1947, did not align with a 1961 constitutional bench judgment. The counsel cited the landmark Supreme Court judgment, Durgah Committee, Ajmer v. Syed Hussain Ali (1961), to argue that the Ajmer Sharif Dargah does not represent a specific "religious tenet" but rather a sect.

According to Singh, the practice is a custom, not a core religious tenet, and the Ministry is often a party to related suits, citing a pending civil suit (No. 66/2024) filed by the second petitioner. It was submitted that the offering of the ‘Chadar’ should be reviewed in light of secular constitutional principles.

Cause Title: Jitender Singh v. Union of India [Diary No. 74179/2025]