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Allahabad HC restores plea over Mathura mosque row
A division bench of chief justice Rajesh Bindal and justice Prakash Padia restored the plea on the ground that the application to restore it was filed without any delay. The plea has been listed for hearing on July 25.
A petition seeking removal of Mathura’s Shahi Idgah Mosque, allegedly built on Krishna Janmabhoomi (the birthplace of Hindu god Krishna), will be heard by the Allahabad high court on July 25.
The petition was earlier dismissed on January 19 last year as the petitioner, who was not represented by any lawyer, was absent. Advocate Mahek Maheshwari had applied for a restoration of the petition, which was allowed by the court last month.
A division bench of chief justice Rajesh Bindal and justice Prakash Padia restored the plea on the ground that the application to restore it was filed without any delay. The plea has been listed for hearing on July 25.
“Order dated January 19, 2021, dismissing the main petition in default is recalled. The main petition is restored to its original number. Let the main petition be now listed as per roster on July 25, 2022,” the court said in its order. While the order was passed on February 17, it came to light on Saturday.
The writ petition sought the removal of the Shahi Idgah Mosque, alleging it was built on the site of the birthplace of Krishna. The petitioner has asked for the land to be “handed over to the Hindus and a proper trust be formed to build a temple on the Krishna Janmabhoomi Janmasthan land”.
In an interim plea, the petitioner also sought permission for Hindus to worship at the mosque on certain days of the week and during the festival of Janmashtami (Krishna’s birth anniversary celebrations), till the disposal of the petition.
“Lord Krishna was born in karagar (prison) of king Kans and the place of his birth lies beneath the present structure raised by the Shahi Idgah Trust,” the petitioner claimed in the public interest litigation.
The petitioner also prayed for a court-monitored excavation of the “disputed structure” by the Archaeological Survey of India.
A “mosque is not an essential part of Islam”, the petition said, and hence, the “disputed land should be handed over to the Hindus for the exercise of their right to freely profess, practice and propagate religion under Article 25 of the Constitution”.
