All cases pertaining to Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah Mosque to be heard by Allahabad HC

All cases would be heard together by the high court

In a significant ruling, the Allahabad High Court has directed the transfer of all the cases pertaining to the Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah Mosque dispute to the high court.

A single bench comprising Justice Arvind Kumar Mishra passed the order on Friday on a petition filed on behalf of Bhagwan Shri Krishna Virajman and seven others seeking a hearing of all the cases pertaining to the dispute by the high court. The court had earlier reserved its judgement in the matter on May three.

In its order, the court said that the cases were concerned with the faith and beliefs of both Hindus and Muslims and that there could be a delay in their disposal if they continued to be heard in the lower court.

The court has directed the Mathura district judge to send all the files pertaining to the cases to it and appointed an additional advocate general to plead them before the court. All these cases would be heard together by the high court.

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A total of seven cases pertaining to the Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah Mosque in Mathura were pending in different courts in Mathura.

The Hindu petitioners contended that the Shahi Idgah Mosque had been built by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb after demolishing a part of the Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi and claimed ownership over the entire 13.37 acres of land on which they were situated. They have also challenged the 1968 agreement between the Shahi Idgah Mosque Committee and the Shrikrishna Janmabhoomi Trust allowing the Mosque to continue to exist and use the land on which it was situated. The petitioners also sought a videography survey of the disputed site on the lines of the videography survey of the Gyanvapi Mosque, which was adjacent to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi.

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.

The order of the high court comes close on the heels of a ruling by a Varanasi court a few days back directing to club all the seven cases pertaining to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple-Gyanvapi Mosque dispute being heard at different courts in Varanasi.

District judge A K Vishwesh had passed the order on an application filed by four Hindu women, who had contended in their application that all the seven cases which were being heard at different courts in Varanasi, were of a 'similar' nature and that they should be clubbed and heard by a single court.