Decide plea seeking ASI survey of Shahi Idgah in 4 months, HC asks Mathura court

PTI, Aug 29, 2022, 6:51 PM IST

Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court on Monday directed a Mathura court to pass an order within four months on an application seeking an ASI survey of Shahi Idgah mosque adjacent to Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi temple.

Justice Piyush Agrawal passed the order on a petition filed by Bhagwan Shri Krishna Virajman and others. The court disposed of the petition with a direction to decide the application within four months.

The petitioners had sought a direction from the civil judge (senior division), Mathura, to decide the application dated May 13, 2022, pending in the original suit of 2021 (Shri Krishna Virajman and others Vs UP Sunni Central Waqf Board and others) within a stipulated period of time.

It was argued by the counsel for the petitioners that since the application is pending consideration, the petitioners are suffering irreparable loss. “Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, without expressing any opinion on the merits of the issue, the present petition stands disposed of finally with a direction to the concerned court below to consider and decide application dated May 13, 2022, in accordance with law expeditiously and preferably within a period of four months,” the high court said. The Mathura court is hearing a bunch of suits for the removal of Shahi Idgah Masjid from near the Krishna Janmabhoomi temple in the Katra Keshav Dev Temple Complex.

The petitioners have sought the mosque’s survey by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), claiming the existence of several signs of temples, like those of “om, swastika, and lotus” inside it.

It was claimed in the application that the disputed complex was earlier a temple and the Shahi Idgah was built by demolishing it. Kansa had imprisoned lord Krishna’s parents in the Dwapar era where the mosque stands now, and it is the birthplace of Krishna, the application claims.