Key Takeaways
- The Allahabad High Court authorized a survey of the Shahi Idgah Mosque, reviving legal scrutiny over the site.
- An advocate commissioner will be appointed to examine claims that the mosque contains Hindu mandir symbols.
- The dispute centers on the mosque’s location in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh, a historically contested religious area.
On Thursday, December 14, the Allahabad High Court allowed an application which sought the appointment of a commission to inspect the Shahi Idgah Mosque complex situated in Uttar Pradesh’s Mathura.
The mosque is built over the original Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi.
On Thursday afternoon, speaking with the media, Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain said, ‘The court has allowed our demand that an advocate commissioner must be appointed.
It will be decided on December 18 as to who the advocate commissioner will be, what the modalities will be, and whether it will be a three-member committee.’
Advocate Jain added, ‘We demanded that in the Shahi Idgah Mosque, there are lots of signs and symbols which are associated with a Hindu Mandir, and in order to know the actual factual position, an actual advocate commissioner is required. The court has allowed our application.’
It was back in the year 2020 that Lucknow-based Advocate Ranjana Agnihotri, along with six others, had filed a petition, before the civil judge (senior division), seeking the removal of the mosque from the Mandir complex. In September 2020, the plea was rejected by Judge Chaya Sharma, on grounds of maintainability, holding that the petitioners did not have locus, and could not be ‘next of kin’ for the deity, when a Mandir management authority exists already. Then, a revision petition was filed before the district judge, and in May 2022, District and Sessions Judge, Rajiv Bharti, allowed the appeal.
