The Supreme Court said Today (April 4) will examine if the Shahi Idgah mosque stands on ASI-protected land, which could exempt it from the Places of Worship Act. This major twist could reshape the Krishna Janmabhoomi legal battle.
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NEW DELHI: The long-running dispute over the Krishna Janmabhoomi and Shahi Idgah Masjid in Mathura took a fresh turn today, when the Supreme Court said it will now examine a new argument made by the Hindu side.
The Hindu parties have claimed that the Shahi Idgah structure is actually a protected monument under the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) and cannot be used as a mosque.
A Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna, Justice PV Sanjay Kumar & Justice K.V. Viswanathan issued notice to the Hindu side. This was in response to an appeal filed by the Muslim side challenging an earlier order passed by the Allahabad High Court. That High Court order had allowed the Hindu side to change their original case and also add ASI as a party.
During the hearing, the Supreme Court remarked:
“As far as the question whether the ASI protected place can be used as a mosque is pending before us. We had stated that no effective interim order be passed and you never told this to the High Court. This will have to be dealt with in other matter on merits.”
The Supreme Court also noted that the High Court’s earlier decision allowing the Hindu side to amend their case seems correct at first glance.
The Hindu parties had approached the High Court saying that under ASI rules, a protected monument cannot be used for religious worship, especially as a mosque, and hence the Places of Worship Act, 1991 does not apply in this case.
The Supreme Court commented:
“You have the right to amend plaint and implead parties. No parties retrospective or not is a separate issue. They can also amend the plea and raise the issue in replication that places of worship act will not apply. That is why impugned order appears to be correct. It’s not a new case. He is entitled to challenge it when you raise a new defense.”
The top court finally decided to hear this case along with other related cases on April 8.
To explain the background, the Hindu side had asked the High Court to allow them to add ASI as a party and to change their original plea. They argued that in 1920, the Lieutenant Governor of the United Province had issued a notification under Section 3 of the Ancient Monument Preservation Act, declaring the mosque area as a protected monument.
Because of this, they said, the Places of Worship Act, 1991, which protects the religious character of places as they stood in August 1947, will not apply here. They argued that this place cannot be used as a mosque anymore.
The law was brought in during the time of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement and was meant to protect the status of all religious sites as they were in August 1947. It does not allow any court to hear new cases or change the religious status of such places.
The Muslim side opposed the Hindu parties’ application to amend the suit. They said it was a way to get around their defense, which was based on the Places of Worship Act.
They argued:
“The proposed amendments shows that the Plaintiffs are attempting to negate the defence taken by the Defendant that the Suit is barred by the Places of Worship Act 1991 by setting up a new case. The Plaintiffs are amending their Plaint, to try and wriggle out of the defence taken by the defendant that the suit is barred under the Places of Worship Act, 1991.”
However, on March 5, the Allahabad High Court allowed the Hindu side to change their case and add ASI as a party.
The High Court said:
“Let amendment be incorporated in the plaint within a month. The defendant may file addition written statement within two weeks of incorporation of proposed amendment by plaintiffs.”
This decision by the High Court was then challenged in the Supreme Court by the Muslim side.
The original case began when the Hindu side filed a civil suit claiming that the Shahi Idgah Mosque was built on the land where Lord Krishna was born (Krishna Janmabhoomi).
The suit was filed on behalf of Bhagwan Shri Krishna Virajman (the deity) and other Hindu devotees. They requested that the mosque be removed from its current location.
They also claimed there are several signs that prove the mosque is actually a Hindu temple, and so they asked the High Court to appoint a commissioner to inspect the site.
In September 2020, the civil court dismissed the suit, saying it could not be admitted under the Places of Worship Act. But later, the Mathura District Court in May 2022 said the suit was valid, and allowed it to go ahead. The case was then moved to the Allahabad High Court in 2023.
Apart from this, the Muslim side also appealed in the Supreme Court against another Allahabad High Court order that allowed transfer of all related suits from civil court to High Court, and clubbed them together.
The Supreme Court is also hearing a separate appeal related to another Allahabad High Court judgment. That judgment had said that 18 suits regarding the Krishna Janmabhoomi–Shahi Idgah dispute were maintainable (valid in law).
Meanwhile, in December last year, the Supreme Court had directed all courts across India to not pass any orders or conduct any surveys in religious disputes that question the religious character of a place. This was because the Places of Worship Act, 1991 clearly says such cases should not be allowed unless the law itself is held invalid.
The Court had explained that:
The Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 clearly prohibits filing such suits, and no legal step can be taken until the validity of the law is itself decided.
That Supreme Court order came in a separate case that is challenging the constitutionality of the 1991 Act.
Since then, courts have not passed any new or effective orders in cases like the Shahi Idgah dispute.
![[BREAKING] Supreme Court Extends Stay on Court-Monitored Survey of Shahi Idgah Mosque Complex](https://i0.wp.com/lawchakra.in/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Supreme-Court-Declines-to-Stay-Allahabad-HC-Order-on-Krishna-Janmabhoomi-Shahi-Eidgah-Mosque-Survey.jpeg?resize=800%2C450&ssl=1)
PREVIOUSLY IN APEX COURT
NEW DELHI (22nd Jan): The Supreme Court extended its stay on the Allahabad High Court’s directive allowing a court-supervised survey of the Shahi Idgah Mosque complex in Mathura.
Situated next to the Krishna Janmabhoomi temple, a site of immense religious significance for Hindus, the mosque complex has been a focal point of legal and religious contention.
ALSO READ: Mathura’s Shahi Masjid Committee Accuses Centre of Delays in Places of Worship Case
A bench led by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna, along with Justices Sanjay Kumar and KV Viswanathan, has decided to postpone hearing the petition filed by the ‘Committee of Management of Trust Shahi Masjid Idgah.’ The plea challenges the court-monitored survey and is scheduled for consideration in the first week of April.
The Chief Justice of India (CJI) stated that three key issues are currently pending before the Supreme Court:
“The issue of an intra-court appeal, the matter concerning the Places of Worship Act, 1991, and another issue,”
-which will be addressed during the week starting April 1.
In the meantime, the bench confirmed that the interim order issued by the Allahabad High Court, which stayed the court-monitored survey of the Shahi Idgah mosque complex, remains in effect.
On January 16 last year, the Supreme Court had first stayed the December 14, 2023, order by the Allahabad High Court, which had allowed the survey and appointed a court commissioner to oversee it.
The Hindu side claims that the premises show indications of a temple having once existed at the site. Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, representing the Hindu parties, argued that the appeal filed by the mosque committee against the December 14, 2023, order and related orders had become irrelevant.
Jain also referenced a subsequent high court order rejecting the Muslim parties’ plea challenging the maintainability of 18 cases related to the Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah dispute in Mathura. The court ruled that the religious character of the mosque needed to be determined.
The high court had dismissed the Muslim side’s argument that the Hindu litigants’ suits concerning the dispute over the Krishna Janmabhoomi temple and the adjacent mosque violated the Places of Worship Act, 1991, and were thus not maintainable.
The 1991 Act prohibits altering the religious character of any shrine from what it was on the day of India’s Independence, with an exception for the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute.
In Mathura, a suit was filed in the Civil Judge Senior Division court seeking the relocation of the Shahi Idgah mosque, claiming it was built on a portion of the 13.37-acre land owned by the Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi Trust.
The Hindu side had requested the high court to conduct the original trial, similar to the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi title dispute. In allowing the court-monitored survey, the high court emphasized that no harm should be caused to the structure during the process, which could be overseen by a three-member commission of advocates.
On 21st Jan, The Shahi Masjid Committee in Mathura has moved the Supreme Court, alleging that the Central Government is deliberately delaying its response in the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 case. The committee filed a plea on Monday, urging the court to remove the Centre’s right to reply so the case can proceed without further obstruction.
The mosque committee accused the Centre of intentionally not filing its reply, thereby “obstructing those who are opposing the challenge to the Places of Worship Act” from submitting their responses. It highlighted that the Supreme Court granted the Centre four weeks on December 12, 2023, to file its reply, but no response has been submitted to date.
The Shahi Masjid Committee serves as an intervenor in a series of petitions related to the Places of Worship Act, 1991, which prohibits altering the religious character of any place of worship as it existed on August 15, 1947. The committee is responsible for managing the Shahi Masjid Eidgah in Mathura, a site involved in 17 legal suits currently being heard by the Allahabad High Court.
CASE TITLE:
COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT, TRUST SHAHI MASJID IDGAH Versus BHAGWAN SHRIKRISHNA VIRAJMAN AND ORS.
MA 25/2025 in SLP(C) No. 6388/2024.
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