Mathura court orders survey of Shahi Idgah Mosque in Krishna Janmabhoomi case

A local court in Mathura today ordered the survey of the Shahi Idgah Mosque, said to be built on the Krishna Janmabhoomi.

The court ordered a survey by ‘Amin’ on the claim of the Hindu Sena in Mathura’s Sri Krishna Janmasthan-Shahi Idgah Mosque dispute case. The report of the survey is to be submitted to the court on January 20, the date of the next hearing in the case.

On December 8, national president of Hindu Sena Vishnu Gupta and vice president Surjit Singh Yadav, residents of Delhi, had claimed in the court that the Idgah was constructed by the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb by demolishing the temple on 13.37 acres of land of Lord Krishna’s birthplace.

The petitioners argued in their suit that as devotees of Lord Krishna, they have a right to approach the court. They say they have the right to worship at the actual birthplace of Lord Krishna.

The court order is on the same lines as a Varanasi court that ordered a videographic survey of the Gyanvapi Masjid.

The petition also challenged the agreement made in the year 1968 between Shri Krishna Janmasthan Seva Sangh vs Shahi Masjid Idgah.

The court of Civil Judge Senior Division III Sonika Verma served a notice to all the defendants.

The Shahi Idgah mosque in Mathura comes under the purview of the Places of Worship Act, of 1991. Here’s what the law says, “An Act to prohibit conversion of any place of worship and to provide for the maintenance of the religious character of any place of worship as it existed on the 15th day of August 1947, and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto.”

The only exception to the law was the Ayodhya temple-mosque case involving the 16th century Babri mosque, razed in 1992 by Hindu activists who believed it was built on the ruins of an ancient temple. The Supreme Court in 2019 handed over the mosque site to Hindus for a grand Ram temple and ordered alternative land for a mosque.