Krishna Janmabhoomi: Mosque committee questions right of petitioner to file suit
The Shahi Eidgah mosque management committee in Mathura on Friday questioned the right of a Hindu petitioner to file a suit in the court of the civil judge (senior division) on the Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi issue
The Shahi Eidgah mosque management committee in Mathura on Friday questioned the right of a Hindu petitioner to file a suit in the court of the civil judge (senior division) on the Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi issue.
The mosque committee invoked the Places of Worship Act (Special Provisions) Act 1991, which states that the religious character of a place of worship existing on August 15, 1947 shall continue to be the same as it existed on that day.
The intezamia (management) committee for Shahi Eidgah Mosque on Friday concluded its arguments on its own application moved under Order 7 Rule 11 of the Civil Procedure Code. Arguments are to be placed by counsel for petitioner, Manish Yadav, on November 8, the next date of hearing, in the case.
Elaborating on arguments placed on Friday, the secretary and counsel of Shahi Eidgah management committee Tanveer Ahmed said, “The petitioner Manish Yadav has no right to file the suit and seek relief as prayed for. The suit, as filed, is time barred and no evidence for title has been placed or proved by the petitioner in the case.”
“The petitioner has failed to identify the land in the suit said to be measuring 13.37 acre because the map filed has not specified the boundaries much required to identify the property. Besides this, the suit is barred by time because the petitioner has failed in proving the delay, not of years but of decades, while challenging the compromise entered in 1968,” asserted Ahmed who was assisted by Neeraj Sharma, Abrar Ahmed and Vikas Pathak, the other lawyers appearing in the case for Shahi Eidgah mosque.
On October 3, the court of civil judge (senior division) at Mathura had heard initial arguments placed by lawyers for Shahi Eidgah mosque, who have challenged the maintainability of the suit filed by Hindu petitioners on the Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi issue in Mathura. This is case no. 152 of 2021 Bhagwan Sri Krishna Virajman versus UP Sunni Central Waqf Board and others filed in the court of Civil Judge (Senior Division) Mathura in December 2021.
Manish Yadav, the petitioner, had on May 12, 2022 moved applications before the Allahabad high court, which directed the lower court in Mathura to decide the two applications filed on behalf of Bhagwan Shri Krishna Virajman in connection with the Krishna Janmabhoomi issue within four months.
Another case filed by a Lucknow-based lawyer Shailendra Singh on the same issue was also heard in the court of civil judge (senior division), Mathura. But the petitioner was not present in the court despite Friday being the last opportunity provided to Singh, who is both counsel for and petitioner in the case, to turn up.
“The court of civil judge (Senior Division) Mathura has reserved the file for passing the order after there was no adjournment moved by petitioner Shailendra Singh who was not present in the court despite the court fixing today’s date as the last opportunity in the case,” said Ahmed, representing Shahi Eidgah Mosque in this case too.
These petitioners, besides others, have challenged the settlement dated October 10, 1968 between Sri Krishna Janmsthan Seva Sangh and Shahi Masjid Eidgah, which was part of suit no. 43 of 1967, alleging that it had no legal validity because the Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi Trust, having ownership and title of the property, was not party to the settlement.
The petitioners have sought cancellation of the judgment and decree dated July 20, 1973 and judgment and decree dated November 7, 1974 passed in civil suit no. 43 of 1967 by the civil judge, Mathura.
There had been a dozen cases filed in the Mathura court on the issue of Sri Krishna Janambhoomi and the relief sought was more or less, similar seeking removal of Shahi Eidgah Mosque that shares wall with Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi in Mathura, and handing over of land measuring 13.37 acre back to the deity.
The petitioners have alleged that the Shahi Eidgah mosque was built on the same spot where a temple was razed to the ground by then Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in the 17th century.