Allahabad High Court approves survey for Krishna Janmabhoomi site

The Allahabad High Court has approved a survey of the 17th century Shahi Idgah Mosque in Uttar Pradesh’s Mathura by a court-appointed advocate commissioner. A decision on the identity of the commissioner as well as the modalities of the survey, will be taken on Monday, the court said.

“The Allahabad HC has allowed our application where we had demanded a survey of (Shahi Idgah Masjid) by an advocate commissioner. The modalities will be decided on December 18. The court has rejected the arguments of Shahi Idgah Masjid. My demand was that in Shahi Idgah Masjid there are a lot of signs and symbols of the Hindu temple, and to know the actual position, an advocate commissioner is required. It’s a landmark judgement by the court,” Vishnu Shankar Jain, the lawyer representing the Hindu side in the Krishna Janmabhoomi case said soon after the court ruling.

Several Hindu outfits have claimed the mosque was built on the birthplace of Lord Krishna and had demanded a survey. The demand — by Vishnu Gupta of right-wing outfit Hindu Sena — was admitted by a local court in December 2022 but the Muslim side had filed an objection in the Allahabad High Court.

The Muslims side is now expected to approach the Supreme Court against this ruling.

The Hindu outfits had filed a petition in a Mathura court demanding full ownership of the contested 13.37 acres of land, claiming the centuries-old mosque had been built by demolishing the Katra Keshav Dev temple that stood on the same ground. This, they have alleged, was on the order of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb.

As evidence, the Hindu side claims, the existence of carvings of lotuses on some walls of the mosque, as well as shapes supposedly resembling a ‘sheshnag’ – the snake demigod in Hindu mythology. According to their arguments, this indicates that the mosque was built over the temple.

The Muslim side has sought to dismiss the petition by citing the Places of Worship Act of 1991.

There are a total of 18 cases in the High Court concerning the Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Masjid dispute.