Today, On 17th September, The Supreme Court asked the Muslim side in the Shahi Idgah mosque dispute to clarify whether they need to file an appeal in the High Court. The case involves a legal dispute over the mosque’s land, which is claimed by the Hindu community. The court’s direction is aimed at ensuring the proper judicial process is followed.
New Delhi: The Supreme Court, On Tuesday, asked the Muslim parties involved in the Shahi Idgah dispute to inform whether an appeal could be filed before a division bench of the Allahabad High Court against a single-judge order.
The order in question had dismissed their plea challenging the maintainability of 18 cases concerning the Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah dispute in Mathura.
A bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Sanjay Kumar, which initially considered issuing notice to the Hindu side in response to the Muslim parties’ appeal against the August 1 High Court ruling, scheduled the next hearing for November 4.
Senior advocate Madhavi Divan and lawyer Vishnu Shankar Jain, representing the Hindu side, argued that the Supreme Court previously stayed the order appointing a court commissioner to survey the Idgah complex, and urged that this stay should be lifted.
The bench acknowledged that multiple legal issues need thorough examination and ordered that all pending matters related to the dispute be heard together.
The bench comprising Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar stated,
“A preliminary objection has been raised by the Counsel for the Respondents, asserting that the impugned judgment by the single judge is appealable via an intra-court appeal. The Counsel for the Petitioner requests ten days to examine this aspect… Issue notice… List for hearing in the week starting November 4.”
One of the lawyers representing the Hindu parties raised a preliminary objection to the filing of the appeal in the Supreme Court, arguing that the August 1 order could be appealed before the division bench of the High Court. Agreeing with this, the Supreme Court bench asked senior advocate Tasneem Ahmadi, representing the Committee of Management Trust, Shahi Masjid Idgah, to inform the court if an appeal could be filed against the High Court’s August 1 ruling.
The bench remarked,
“I think you (Muslim side) can do it. There are some judgments of this court which say you can. If so, this appeal needs to be withdrawn.”
The law firm Karanjawala and Company is representing Rajendra Maheshwari, one of the original Hindu parties, who filed a suit in 2020 in the Mathura court. On August 1, the High Court dismissed a plea challenging the maintainability of 18 cases related to the Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah dispute, stating that the “religious character” of Shahi Idgah needs to be determined.
The High Court rejected the Muslim side’s argument that the lawsuits filed by Hindu litigants over the Shahi Idgah mosque complex, adjacent to the Krishna Janmabhoomi temple, violated the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, and were therefore not maintainable. The Act prohibits altering the religious character of any place of worship as it existed on the day of India’s Independence, with the exception of the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute.
The cases brought by the Hindu side seek the “removal” of the mosque, which they claim was constructed during Aurangzeb’s reign by demolishing a pre-existing temple.
In its decision, the High Court stated that the 1991 Act does not define the term “religious character” and that the “disputed” site cannot simultaneously hold dual religious identities both as a temple and a mosque as these are “adverse to each other.”
The judge noted,
“Either the place is a temple or a mosque. Thus, I find that the religious character of the disputed place as it existed on August 15, 1947, is to be determined by documentary as well as oral evidence presented by both parties.”
Justice Mayank Kumar Jain of the Allahabad High Court ruled that the cases concerning the Shahi Idgah mosque complex “do not appear to be barred by any provisions” of laws such as the Wakf Act, 1995, the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, the Specific Relief Act, 1963, the Limitation Act, 1963, or Order XIII Rule 3A of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.
On August 9, the Supreme Court extended its stay on the High Court’s decision, which had permitted a court-supervised survey of the Shahi Idgah mosque complex. The stay, originally imposed by the apex court on January 16, will remain in place until November. The High Court’s December 14, 2023, ruling had allowed for the survey and the appointment of a court commissioner to oversee the process.
The Hindu parties claim the site contains evidence suggesting that a temple once stood there. Multiple petitions have been submitted to the Supreme Court by the mosque’s management committee, including one challenging the May 26, 2023, High Court order, which transferred all related cases from the Mathura court to itself.
Read Also: Krishna Janmasthan-Shahi Idgah Dispute | HC Reserves Judgment on Maintainability of Cases
The dispute originated in Mathura, where a suit was filed in the Civil Judge Senior Division (III) court, seeking to relocate the Shahi Idgah mosque, which is alleged to have been built on 13.37 acres of land belonging to the Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi Trust.
The Hindu parties had requested that the High Court handle the case in a manner similar to the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi title dispute. While allowing the request for a court-monitored survey, the High Court emphasized that no damage should be caused to the structure and suggested that the process could be overseen by a three-member commission of advocates.
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