LUCKNOW: In a major development, the Allahabad High Court on Thursday allowed an application seeking appointment of a court-monitored advocate commissioner to survey the Shahi Idgah mosque premises, adjoining the Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi temple in Mathura.
The High Court said that it would hear the application seeking appointment of the advocate commissioner on December 18 and then decide the maintainability issue later. A single-judge bench, comprising Justice Mayank Kumar Jain, passed the order on an application filed on behalf of Hindu deity Bhagwan Shri Krishna Virajman and seven other Hindu plaintiffs.
Notably, the application seeking the court monitored survey of the Shahi Idgah mosque premises was filed as part of an original suit pending before the High Court, in which the plaintiffs (Hindu side) have claimed that the Mathura Shahi Idgah Masjid was built over Krishna Janmabhoomi land and that the actual birthplace of Lord Krishna lies beneath the mosque.
The applicants had claimed that evidence existed to support the view that the Shahi Idgah mosque was, in fact, a Hindu temple.
The application mentioned the presence of a lotus shaped pillar, a classic characteristic of architecture of Hindu temples. Moreover, the image of 'Sheshnaag', the deity who had protected Lord Krishna when he was being shifted from Mathura to Vrindavan on the night of his birth by father Vasudev, is also present there.
Therefore, the applicants had urged the court to appoint a commission to examine the site.
The application was filed through advocates Hari Shankar Jain, Vishnu Shankar Jain, Prabhash Pandey and Devki Nandan.
Meanwhile, in all the 18 original suits pending in the High Court, the plaintiffs have mainly sought a declaration that the land under dispute -- the area where the Shahi Idgah Mosque is situated – belonged to the deity Lord Shri Krishna Virajman.
The main suit also seeks the removal of the mosque on the ground that it was built over Krishna Janmabhoomi land.
According to advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, who appeared for the Hindu side, application no. 130 ‘Ga’ was allowed on Thursday and on December 18, the court would hear the parties concerned. It would decide the modalities of the constitution of the court commission like how many advocates will be appointed commissioner, while the time frame of the survey will be decided on the next date.
On November 16, the High Court had reserved its order on the application moved by the Hindu side seeking the appointment of a court-monitored advocate commissioner. It had also sought a direction to the defendant to remove the mosque. It may be recalled that a Mathura civil court had dismissed the suit over the Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi- Shahi Eidgah Mosque dispute on September 30, 2020 citing the bar on admitting the case under the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991. However, the Mathura district court, in May 2022, overturned the civil court’s order following an appeal against it.
The appellants had asserted that as devotees of Lord Krishna, they had a right to move the suit in view of their fundamental religious rights under Article 25 of the Constitution of India.
Later, the Allahabad High Court, on May 26 this year, transferred to itself all the suits pending before the Mathura district court praying for various reliefs pertaining to the Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah Mosque dispute. The case is presently pending before the High Court.
