The Allahabad High Court on Thursday allowed a plea to appoint a court-monitored advocate commissioner to survey the disputed Shahi Idgah premises adjoining the Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi temple in Uttar Pradesh’s Mathura.
The bench, headed by Justice Mayank Kumar, ruled that the court will on December 18 decide who will be the court commissioner.
Here’s all you need to know about the case-
- September 24, 2020: Lucknow-based advocate Ranjana Agnihotri and six others filed a plea seeking a survey of the Shahi Idgah mosque located in the same complex as the Katra Keshav Dev Temple, close to the spot known as ‘Krishna Janmabhoomi’. The plea further sought the removal of the 17th-century mosque.
- The petitioners argued that the mosque was built on a part of 13.37 acres of land belonging to the Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi Trust.
- September 30, 2020: The plea was rejected as non-admissible. The civil judge ruled that since none of the petitioners were from Mathura, they did not have a valid stake in the matter.
- The ruling was overturned by the district court.
- Afterwards, a revised petition was filed in the district court.
- May 1, 2023: The Allahabad High Court ordered the case to be heard by the Civil Court.
- July 10, 2023: Allahabad High Court dismissed a writ petition filed by the Shri Krishna Janambhoomi Mukti Nirman Trust requesting the court to direct the Mathura civil judge to decide its application for scientific survey of Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah mosque premises first before deciding the objections raised against the suit.
- July 11, 2023: The Muslim side approached the Supreme Court challenging orders of the Allahabad High Court that directed to club all matters related to the Krishna Janmabhoomi. At least a dozen cases have been filed in the courts of Mathura on the Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi issue since 2020.
- September 22, 2023: The Supreme Court rejected a plea seeking a scientific survey of the Krishna Janmabhoomi site’s Shahi Idgah mosque.
History of Shri Krishnajanmbhumi Land Dispute Case
The Krishna Janmbhoomi temple is believed to have been built around the prison cell in which Lord Krishna is claimed to be born. It is said to be constructed in the 6th century BC.
The 13.37 acres of land, the ownership of which has been a topic of debate for over eight decades, was owned by the King of Varanasi at the beginning of the 20th century.
In 1944, businessman Yugal Kishor Birla bought the land and launched the Sri Krishnabhoomi Trust to build a Krishna temple in the area. In 1958, the roles and responsibilities of the temple trust were taken over by the Shri Krishna Janmasthan Seva Sangh.
In 1964, the Sangh filed a civil lawsuit in connection with the ownership of the land.
Four years later in 1968, the temple trust and the Shahi Idgah mosque management committee reached an agreement, according to which, while the ownership of the land remained with the temple trust, the Trust Masjid Idgah had management rights to run the temple.
The agreement meant that the temple trust had no right to stake claims on the masjid land.
The 2020 civil suit, however, argued that the said agreement was “an illegal compromise”.
