New Delhi: The Supreme Court Tuesday stayed an Allahabad High Court order to appoint an advocate commissioner for the inspection of the 17th century Shahi Idgah Mosque in Uttar Pradesh’s Mathura in the Krishna Janmabhoomi case.
The Allahabad High Court on 14 December had allowed an application on behalf of the deity Bhagwan Shri Krishna Virajman and seven others in an original suit who contended that Krishna’s birthplace lay beneath the mosque.
The court allowed a court-monitored survey of the mosque under an advocate commissioner to oversee it.
The main suit, pending before the Allahabad High Court, seeks a declaration that the 13.37 acres of disputed land, including the area where the mosque is situated, belongs to Lord Shri Krishna Virajman. The plea also requests a direction to the defendants, including the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board, to remove the mosque.
The Hindu side has claimed the centuries-old mosque was built by demolishing the Katra Keshav Dev temple that stood there earlier. They alleged this was ordered by Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb.
On Tuesday, however, a Supreme Court bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta gave the interim order on a special leave petition challenging the Allahabad High Court order by the mosque committee.
Arguing on behalf of the mosque committee, Advocate Tasneem Ahmadi that the high court could not have passed the order when the application seeking rejection of the main suit was pending.
VIDEO | "The top court has stayed the Allahabad High Court order that allowed a survey (of the Shahi Idgah mosque adjoining the Krishna Janmabhoomi temple in Mathura). The court has also issued a notice to the Hindu side and sought its response. The next hearing will now be held… pic.twitter.com/yygWv1Zktq
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) January 16, 2024
The judges accepted this argument, and said: “There are legal issues that arise. That apart, the application for local commissioner is very vague. Can an application be made like this? Third aspect is the transfer… We are staying the operation of the impugned order to the extent of the commission being executed…”
Lawyer of the Hindu side Reena N. Singh said the top court had also issued a notice to the Hindu petitioners and sought its response. The next hearing would be held on 23 January.