The Supreme Court on Wednesday extended its stay on the Allahabad High Court’s order that allowed a court-monitored survey of the Shahi Idgah Mosque complex in Mathura, situated near the Krishna Janmabhoomi temple, a site of great religious significance for Hindus. The bench, comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Justice Sanjay Kumar, and Justice KV Viswanathan, announced that the hearing on the petition filed by the ‘Committee of Management of Trust Shahi Masjid Idgah’ will be deferred to the week beginning April 1.
According to PTI, the Chief Justice noted that three main issues are pending before the Supreme Court: the intra-court appeal related to the consolidation of lawsuits filed by Hindu litigants, the challenge to the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, and the ongoing dispute over the Shahi Idgah mosque complex. The bench confirmed that the interim stay on the survey, granted by the Allahabad High Court, will remain in effect for now.
This issue began when the Allahabad High Court, on December 14, 2023, allowed a court-monitored survey of the Shahi Idgah mosque complex, appointing a court commissioner to oversee the process. Hindu litigants claim the area may contain evidence of a previous temple at the site. Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, representing the Hindu parties, argued that the mosque committee’s appeal had become redundant after the high court’s subsequent order, which rejected a plea from the Muslim parties challenging the maintainability of 18 cases linked to the Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah dispute.
The Allahabad High Court had dismissed the Muslim side’s argument that these cases violated the Places of Worship Act, which prevents changing the religious character of any site from what existed at the time of India’s Independence, except in the case of the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute.
The dispute in Mathura involves a suit filed to relocate the Shahi Idgah mosque, claiming it was built on land that is part of the Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi Trust’s 13.37-acre property. The Hindu side requested a trial similar to the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi case. The high court had allowed the survey but stipulated that no harm should be caused to the structure during the process, which a three-member commission of advocates could oversee.
