LUCKNOW: A Mathura court on Wednesday dismissed the civil suit seeking removal of Shahi Idgah Masjid to reclaim 13.37-acre land adjacent to Shri Krishna Janmbhoomi site.
As the court of Civil Judge Senior Division did not find the petition admissible, the petitioners said that they would approach the higher court over the issue.
The civil suit was filed in the court of Civil Judge Senior Divison Chhaya Sharma last week by Lucknow based lawyer Ranjana Agnihotri and eight others including Supreme Court lawyers Hari Shankar Jain and Vishnu Shankar Jain, claiming that Mughal emperor Aurangzeb had destroyed a part of Shri Krishna temple at the site believed to be the birthplace of Lord Krishna to erect a mosque in its place. However, the court had posted the matter for hearing for Wednesday.
The court cited the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, the law that barred litigation that alters the status quo of 1947 at any religious place, and dismissed the plea after a 22-minute hearing. In fact, the Act had exempted the Ayodhya dispute from its purview.
"It is a matter of fact and history that Aurangzeb ruled over the country from 1658-1707 AD and he, being a staunch follower of Islam, had issued orders for demolition of a large number of Hindu temples including the temple standing at the birthplace of Lord Krishna at Katra Keshav Dev, Mathura, in 1669-70 AD," said the suit filed in the name of "Bhagwan Shri Krishna Virajman".
The suit further said that Aurangzeb partly succeeded in demolishing the Keshav Dev Temple and the structure constructed there was named Idgah Shahi Masjid.
It also said that the settlement reached in 1968 between the Shree Krishna Janmasthan Seva Sangh and the management of the Shahi Masjid Idgah to avoid each other's section was illegal.