On May 7, Tuesday, the Hindu side in the Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah dispute argued before the Allahabad High Court how its Waqf Board’s general practice to encroach upon any property and declare it as its own asset. Rina N Singh, the counsel for the Hindu side, urged the court not to grant permission to the Waqf Board to carry out such a practice.
The argument was made while the Allahabad HC was hearing the plea challenging the suit seeking the removal of the Shahi Idgah mosque adjacent to the Krishna Janmabhoomi temple in Mathura. Justice Mayank Kumar Jain was hearing the case in response to petitions moved by the Muslim side contesting the maintainability of eighteen consolidated lawsuits concerning the Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah Masjid dispute.
Rina Singh, the attorney for the Hindu side informed the Allahabad High Court that the Muslim side asserted that a 1968 agreement between the two parties turned the property into a waqf asset. But the god who “owns” the property, she asserted, was not a party to the agreement, rendering it null and void.
Singh further asserted that the Waqf Act and the Places of Worship Act’s provisions weren’t relevant in this case.
Notably, the Hindu side argued during the case’s previous hearing on May 2 that Krishna Janmabhoomi is both a protected monument and a monument of national significance, and that as such, it will be subject to the rules of “The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958” rather than the Places of Worship Act.
This dispute in Mathura concerns the ownership rights of 13.37 acres of land. Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi owns 10.9 acres of land, while Shahi Idgah Mosque owns two and a half acres of land. The entire land belongs to the Hindu side. The long-running conflict took a major turn with the Allahabad High Court’s decision to permit the inspection of the disputed mosque.