NEW DELHI: In a development with potential implications for India’s upcoming general elections, the Allahabad High Court granted permission for a petition advocating the appointment of a court commissioner to inspect the Shahi Idgah mosque in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, as per Live Law reports.
The petitioners are seeking full ownership of the 13.37 acres of land surrounding the mosque, asserting it as the birthplace of the Hindu deity Krishna, as reported by the Scroll news portal.
Following the hearing, advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, representing the petitioners, conveyed that the court dismissed the arguments presented by the Shahi Idgah mosque opposing the survey.
Jain stated, “My demand was that in Shahi Idgah masjid, there are a lot of signs and symbols of the Hindu temple, and to ascertain the actual position, an advocate commissioner is required.”
He further informed reporters that the high court would decide on the details of appointing the commissioner on December 18.
This lawsuit was initiated after the high court, on May 26, transferred all petitions pending before a Mathura court, including those seeking various reliefs such as the removal of the mosque situated adjacent to a Krishna temple.
On July 21, a district court in Varanasi issued a similar order permitting a scientific survey of the Gyanvapi mosque in the city.
The district court’s decision followed the high court’s May ruling, which stated that a scientific survey could be conducted of an oval-shaped object discovered on the mosque premises during a survey mandated by a civil court in Varanasi last year.
