Days after the civil court in Mathura had dismissed the plea seeking the removal of the Idgah mosque allegedly built over Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi, the district court in Mathura has accepted the plea today. The court of district judge Sadhna Rani Thakur on Friday accepted the petition and posted the matter for the next hearing on November 18.
The Plaintiffs had approached the district court in Mathura on October 12 (Monday) after a civil court had dismissed the plea on September 30. While hearing the plea today district court judge had summoned a record from the lower court.
The petition was filed by advocate Ranjana Agnihotri, the “next friend” of Shri Krishna Lala Virajman and seven others in Mathura district court. The petitioners also appealed to the court to get 13.37 acre land of Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi vacated.
“Next friend” is a legal term for a person who represents someone directly unable to maintain a suit.
Mathura civil court dismisses plea seeking removal of Idgah Mosque from Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi
It may be recalled that senior civil judge Chhaya Sharma had dismissed the petition earlier on September 30. It had dismissed the petition citing the bar under the Places of Worship (Special Provision) Act, 1991. The plea was filed last month in the court of Civil Judge Division Chhaya Sharma in Mathura district. Under the petition, the land on which the Shahi Idgah is erected adjacent to the Krishna temple at Katra Keshav Dev in Mathura was claimed. The plea had sought the “removal of encroachment and superstructure illegally raised by Committee of Management of alleged Trust Masjid Idgah with the consent of Sunni Central Board of Waqf …at Katra Keshav Dev city Mathura belonging to deity Shree Krishna Virajman.”
Pertinently, the Places of Worship (Special Provision) Act, 1991 was enacted the by the Congress government under the then Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao, which fixed the status of all the places of worship in the country as they existed on August 15, 1947.
The petition named the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board; Shahi Masjid Idgah Trust; Shri Krishna Janambhoomi Trust; and Shri Krishna Janmasthan Seva Sansthan as defendants.
Movement to reclaim Krishna Janmabhoomi
The Shahi Idgah Mosque stands at the Krishna Janmabhoomi in the city of Mathura. The Islamic invader Aurangzeb had destroyed the ancient Keshavnath temple and built the Shahi Idgah Mosque on its plinth in 1669.
The movement around the liberation of Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi in Mathura had gathered steam, especially following the historic Supreme Court verdict on Ram Janmabhoomi case. Earlier in August, in an effort to liberate Mathura, Hindu sadhus had formed the ‘Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi Nirman Nyas’ on the lines of Ram Mandir trust. The 80 Hindu Sadhus who had come together to set up the new trust had said that a signature campaign would be launched to connect other saints and seers for the ‘liberation’ of the Krishna Janmabhoomi.