Allahabad HC okays survey of Mathura's Shahi Idgah mosque

Lucknow: In a significant ruling, the Allahabad High Court on Thursday allowed a plea seeking a court-monitored survey of the Shahi Idgah Mosque complex, adjacent to the Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi Temple, in Mathura by a court-appointed commissioner.

A single bench comprising Justice Mayank Kumar Jain passed the order on a petition filed by the deity (Bhagwan Shree Krishna Virajman) through Hari Shankar Jain and others.

The court said that it would decide about appointing a commissioner and the modalities of the survey on Monday.

Jain said that the high court accepted the plea for a survey of the Idgah Mosque premises by an advocate commissioner and rejected the objections by the mosque management.

''It was our demand that a survey by an advocate commissioner is essential as there is much evidence in the mosque that prove that it was in fact a Hindu temple,'' Jain said terming the ruling of the court as 'historical'.

The petitioners contended that the Shahi Idgah Mosque had been built by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb after demolishing a part of the Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi.

The petitioners claimed ownership over the entire 13.37 acres of land on which the mosque is situated. They have also challenged the 1968 agreement between the Shahi Idgah Mosque Committee and the Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi Trust allowing the mosque to continue to exist and use the land on which it was situated.

A total of 18 petitions concerning the matter were pending in the high court, which had transferred all these cases to itself from the Mathura district courts.

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), which had spearheaded the Ram Temple movement, had made it clear that the Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi issue would be taken up in 2024, the year the next general elections are scheduled to be held in the country.