The Supreme Court has agreed to hear a petition by the Shahi Idgah Masjid challenging last month’s Allahabad High Court verdict, which allowed 15 suits filed by Hindu petitioners claiming the mosque, in Uttar Pradesh’s Mathura, is built on 13.37 acres of land that was Lord Krishna’s birthplace.
The petitioners had sought removal of the mosque.
The top court will hear the Muslim side’s petition on Tuesday.
On August 1 Justice Mayank Kumar, in what was seen as a landmark ruling with implications for other similar pending suits, allowed all 15 suits by the Hindu petitioners to stand.
That order came after the court re-opened hearings on the case because the Shahi Idgah counsel moved an application requesting he be heard and prayed for video recordings.
READ | Big Setback For Mosque Committee In Mathura Land Dispute Case
The Shahi Idgah Intezamia Committee had challenged maintainability of the petitions, including one filed by Bhagwan Shrikrishna Virajman at the Katra Keshav Dev temple.
The Hindu side claims the land is the birthplace of the Lord Krishna.
The petitioners claim as evidence some lotus carvings on the mosque, as well as shapes supposedly resembling the ‘sheshnag’ or the snake demigod in Hindu mythology. These are proof that the mosque was built over a temple, they argue.
The Muslim side had earlier sought to dismiss these petitions by citing the Places of Worship Act of 1991, which maintains the religious status of any place as it was on August 15, 1947.
In 1968, an agreement was signed between the Shri Krishna Janmasthan Seva Sansthan and the Shahi Masjid Idgah Trust, under which 10.9 acres of land was given for the Krishna Janmabhoomi and the remaining 2.5 acres of land to the mosque.
In December last year the Supreme Court declined to stay a High Court order approving a “scientific survey” of the disputed land. However, in January the top court paused the order.
READ | No Survey At Shahi Idgah Mosque For Now, Top Court Pauses Order
This was after the High Court appointed a commissioner to carry out the survey. The top court, though, said the purpose of appointing the commissioner was “vague”.
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