The Allahabad High Court on Thursday dismissed a petition by Mathura’s Shahi Idgah committee challenging the maintainability of 18 lawsuits filed by Hindu litigants and the deity Shree Krishna Virajmaan, The Hindu reported.
This means that proceedings in the lawsuits, which demand that Mathura’s Shahi Idgah mosque be removed, will continue. The mosque is located in a 13.37-acre complex, which also houses the Katra Keshav Dev temple.
The Hindu litigants have claimed that the mosque has been built at the spot where the deity Krishna was born, and the mosque was constructed after demolishing a temple there.
The mosque management committee and the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board contended that the suits were barred by the Places of Worship Special Provisions Act, 1991, which prohibits altering the status of any place of worship from what it was on the day of India’s Independence.
The Hindu side had argued that Shahi Idgah had unlawfully encroached upon the land and claimed that it does not belong to the Waqf board. They also contended that the entire property is protected under the Ancient Monuments Protection Act of 1958.
The High Court, while ruling on Thursday that the lawsuits were maintainable, set August 12 as the date when the questions to be decided through the litigation will be framed, PTI reported.
Last year, the High Court had allowed a petition demanding that a court commissioner be appointed to inspect the mosque. The Supreme Court, however, stayed the order on January 16.
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