Mathura Court Holds Suit for Removal of Shahi Idgah Masjid As Maintainable

The suit alleges that the Shahi Idgah Masjid was built following illegal encroachment.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint)

A Mathura court on Thursday, 19 May, held a suit to remove the Mathura Shahi Idgah Masjid – on the grounds that it was built over Krishna Janmabhoomi land – as maintainable.

In his order overturning a civil court order District Judge Rajeev Bharti, according to Bar and Bench, said:

"Right to sue of the plaintiff will stand restored. Case will be restored at its original number."

The revision plea in the matter was filed by Hindu deities Bhagwan Shrikrishna Virajman and Asthan Shri Krishna Janmbhoomi, through next of friends Ranjana Agnihotri and others. The advocates who had filed the appeal are Advocates Hari Shankar Jain, Vishnu Shankar Jain, and Pankaj Kumar Verma.

The plaintiffs have reportedly claimed that the 13.37 acres of land on which the mosque was built was the birthplace of Lord Krishna.

Background: The (Ongoing) Gyanvapi Mosque Proceedings

The Mathura court order follows the ongoing Gyanvapi mosque proceedings in which a Varanasi court had ordered a survey amid a prayer for year-round permission for carrying out Hindu rituals on a spot in the mosque complex.

The commission appointed by the court for the survey had subsequently claimed that a ‘shivling’ had been found in the mosque, and the Supreme Court had gone on to pass an interim order asking the district magistrate to secure the spot where the ‘shivling’ was indicated to have been found, without obstructing the right of Muslims to enter and pray in the mosque.

Both the Varanasi court and the Justice DY Chandrachud-led bench of the apex court passed their interim orders despite the Places of Worship Act (1991) barring conversion of any place of worship into anything different from the religious character of the place as it was on 15 August 1947 (with the exception of the Ayodhya dispute).

Meanwhile, Supreme Court on Thursday directed the district court in Varanasi to desist from taking any action on the matter related to the Gyanvapi mosque in the city – including on a new application for the demolition of a wall in the mosque near its wazukhana – till the apex court concludes its proceedings on Friday.

And What Had Previously Happened in the Suit To Remove Mathura Shahi Idgah?

Previously, on 30 September 2020, a civil court dismissed the suit to remove the Mathura Shahi Idgah Masjid citing the same (Places of Worship) Act.

But the decision was appealed before the Mathura district court, with appellants claiming that they had the right to move the suit owing to Article 25 (Freedom of conscience and free profession, practice, and propagation of religion) of the Constitution of India.

The district court had thereby reserved its verdict on the appeal on 5 May 2022.

A Spate of Petitions

Meanwhile, the National Treasurer of All India Hindu Mahasabha, Dinesh Kaushik has also moved an application before the Civil Judge Senior Division Mathura seeking permission to consecrate Laddu Gopal inside the Shahi Idgah mosque and to perform puja there.

Further, according to LiveLaw, an application was also moved by advocates Mahendra Pratap Singh (president of Sri Krishna Janmabhumi Mukti Nyas) and Rajendra Maheshwari, on 17 May, before a local court in Mathura with a prayer to seal the mosque complex.

In this, they had referred to the Varanasi court's order to seal the spot of the Gyanvapi mosque complex where the ‘shivling’ was alleged to have been found – the top court had, as stated above, subsequently clarified that only that particular spot be secured without any restriction to Muslims' access to the mosque for prayer.

Advocates Singh and Maheshwari's petition was thereby slated for hearing by the Civil Judge Senior Division Court on 1 July.