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High court defers till Jan 11 hearing on Shahi Eidgah premises survey
Justice Mayank Kumar Jain passed the order in a lawsuit filed by deity Bhagwan Shrikrishna Virajman at Katra Keshav Dev temple and seven others.
The Allahabad high court will on January 11 hear parties on the modalities and composition of the commission that will survey the Shahi Eidgah premises adjoining the Krishna Janmabhoomi temple in Mathura, the court said while adjourning the case on Monday.
Justice Mayank Kumar Jain passed the order in a lawsuit filed by deity Bhagwan Shrikrishna Virajman at Katra Keshav Dev temple and seven others.
The court on Thursday had agreed to the appointment of an advocate commissioner to oversee the survey of the mosque, which the petitioners claim holds signs of being once a Hindu temple. Justice Jain had allowed the application for the commission’s survey and fixed December 18 as the date for composition of the commission.
However, on Monday, the counsel of Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board informed the court that it had filed a special leave petition before the Supreme Court, challenging the order allowing the survey. As the top court was closed due to the winter vacation, a request was made to adjourn the hearing till January 9, when another petition, challenging the transfer of lawsuits on the Janmabhoomi matter, is likely to be listed before it.
The counsel for the plaintiffs, Hari Shankar Jain, who attended the court through videoconferencing, submitted: “The Apex Court has not passed any order for keeping in abeyance the execution of the order dated 14.12.2023, therefore, they should be heard on the issue of modalities and composition of the commission.”
The court, after hearing the parties, adjourned the hearing in the case and observed: “In view of the order passed by the Hon’ble Apex Court and taken into consideration the argument advanced by the learned counsel for the parties, let the matter be fixed on 11.01.2024 for hearing.”
In a bunch of suits pending in the high court, the plaintiffs have sought a declaration that the land in dispute, the area where Shahi Eidgah Mosque is situated, vested in the deity Bhagwan Shrikrishna Virajman, and directions to the defendants to remove the mosque.
In the lawsuits, it has also been claimed that Mathura’s Shahi Eidgah mosque was built under the orders of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb adjacent to the Krishna Janmabhoomi, the place believed to be the birthplace of Lord Krishna, after demolishing a Hindu temple.
The Allahabad high court on May 26 had transferred to itself all the lawsuits pending before a Mathura court praying for various relief pertaining to the Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Eidgah Mosque dispute.
