The Allahabad High Court has dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) plea that sought the recognition of Mathura’s Shahi Idgah Mosque site as Krishna Janam Bhoomi. The bench, comprising Chief Justice Pritinker Diwaker and Justice Ashutosh Srivastava, passed this order after reserving its verdict on the matter last month. A detailed order is awaited.
Advocate Mahek Maheshwari moved the PIL plea in 2020, mainly contending that various historical texts have recorded that the site in question was, in fact, Krishna Janam Bhumi. The petitioner also argued that the site is not a proper mosque as per Islamic jurisprudence since a mosque cannot be built on forcibly acquired land. In contrast, as per Hindu jurisprudence, a temple is a temple even if it is in ruins. Therefore, the PIL plea prayed that the temple’s land should be handed over to the Hindus, and a proper trust for Krishna Janmabhoomi Janmasthan be formed to build a temple on the said land. An additional prayer was made for a Court-monitored GPRS-based excavation by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) of the disputed structure allegedly built over Krishna JanmaSthan.
A PIL plea claimed that Lord Krishna was born in the karagar of King Kans, beneath the present structure by the Shahi Idgah Trust. In 1968, Shree Krishna Janamasthan Seva Sangh compromised with Trust Masjid Idgah by conceding a significant portion of the deity’s property to the latter. Disputing the legality of this compromise, the Petition submitted thus: “The committee of Management of Trust Masjid Idgah entered into an illegal compromise on 12.10.1968 (Twelve Ten Nineteen Sixty-Eight) with the Society Shree Krishna Janamasthan Seva Sangh and both have played fraud upon the Court, the plaintiff Deities, and devotees with a view to capture and grab the property in question. Shree Krishna Janmbhoomi Trust hasn’t been active since 1958, in truth.
The plea also argued that the Masjid is not an essential part of Islam, and hence, the disputed land should be handed over to the Hindus for the exercise of their right to freely profess, practice, and propagate religion under Article 25 of the Constitution. The argument further requested that the court declare Sections 2, 3, and 4 of the Places of Worship Act, 1991, unlawful since they abolish the suit/proceedings in which the cause of action had arisen before August 15, 1947. This means that the court has declined to grant the injured party’s request for a remedy. Additionally, it is said that certain elements go against Hindu law’s principle that property belonging to temples is never lost, even if it is used for years by strangers. Even the king cannot take away property as a deity is the embodiment of God and is a juristic person, representing ‘Infinite- the timeless’ and cannot be confined by the boundaries of time.
In related news, the Allahabad High Court’s May 2023 judgment shifting a number of lawsuits pertaining to the Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Eidgah Mosque issue to itself is currently being reviewed by the Supreme Court in a special leave plea filed by the mosque committee.
In May of this year, the Allahabad High Court transferred to itself all the suits pending before the Mathura court praying for various reliefs pertaining to the Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Eidgah Mosque dispute, allowing the transfer application filed by Bhagwan Shrikrishna Virajman and seven others.
Written by N.Yogendra Mani of KL University Vijayawada Andhra Pradesh ( 5th semester) an intern under Legal Vidhiya
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