New Delhi: The Allahabad High Court Thursday allowed a plea seeking the appointment of a court-monitored advocate commissioner to survey the Shahi Idgah premises adjoining the Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi temple in Uttar Pradesh’s Mathura.
The lawyer for the Hindu side, Vishnu Shankar Jain, said the court had allowed their application demanding a survey of the mosque by an advocate commissioner.
“The court has in-principle agreed to our demand for an advocate commissioner… Who will be the advocate commissioner, whether it will be a three-member panel, what will be the timing…These modalities will be decided on 18 December,” Jain said.
He added there were a lot of “signs and symbols of a Hindu temple” at the site. “We need an advocate commissioner panel to know the actual factual position,” the lawyer further said.
#WATCH | On Krishna Janmabhoomi case, Vishnu Shankar Jain, the lawyer for the Hindu side says, "Allahabad HC has allowed our application where we had demanded survey of (Shahi Idgah Masjid) by advocate commissioner. The modalities will be decided on Dec 18. The court has rejected… pic.twitter.com/OLSeYYSe50
— ANI (@ANI) December 14, 2023
The application for a survey was filed in the original suit pending before the high court, regarding the temple-mosque dispute.
The petition for a survey was filed by the ‘deity’ (Bhagwan Sri Krishna Virajman) and seven others through advocates Hari Shankar Jain, Vishnu Shankar Jain, Prabhash Pandey and Devki Nandan.
It claimed that Hindu god Krishna’s birthplace lay beneath the mosque and that there were many signs which indicated the mosque was a Hindu temple.
According to advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, it was submitted that there existed a lotus-shaped pillar, which was characteristic of Hindu temples. The application also said an image of the “Sheshnaag”, a Hindu deity who protected Lord Krishna on the night of his birth, was also present.
It was submitted that Hindu religious symbols and engravings were also visible at the base of the mosque’s pillar.
The high court in May had transferred to itself all suits pending before the Mathura court, praying for various reliefs pertaining to the Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah mosque dispute.