New Delhi, March 12 -- The Allahabad High Court gave permission to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to whitewash the mosque from the outside and also decorate it with lights without tampering with anything. The next hearing in the case is on April 8.

According to news agency PTI, the Allahabad High Court directed the ASI to undertake and complete whitewashing of Jama Masjid in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal within one week.

The Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal is in the middle of a legal battle after Hindu petitioners claimed that it was built over a Hindu temple called Hari Mandir.

Violence broke out in Sambhal during a court-ordered survey of the Mughal-era Shahi Jama Masjid on November 24 last year, leaving at least four people dead an...