Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Masjid Dispute: SC Adjourns Hearing till April

NEW DELHI:
The Supreme Court on Wednesday adjourned the hearing on a clutch of petitions pertaining to the Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Eidgah Masjid dispute.

A Bench presided over by CJI Sanjiv Khanna decided to post the matter for further hearing in the week commencing April 1, 2025.

In the meantime, CJI Khanna-led Bench extended the operation of the interim order passed on January 16, 2024, whereby the top court had stayed the execution of the commission on a plea filed by the Shahi Idgah Masjid Management Committee against the Allahabad High Court allowing the application filed by Hindu devotees for appointment of a commissioner to inspect the disputed premises.

In an earlier hearing, the Supreme Court had asked parties to complete the pleadings in the matter and directed the filing of written submissions not exceeding three pages along with the judgments being relied on by them. However, it had clarified that the trial proceedings pending before the Allahabad High Court could continue.

The top court is also seized of a plea filed by the mosque committee challenging the transfer of suits by the Allahabad HC to itself.

Recently, it remarked that the decision of the Allahabad High Court to consolidate all suits pertaining to the Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah dispute of Mathura should benefit both sides.

“Why should we intervene in the issue of consolidation of suits? It doesn’t make a difference. It is to the benefit of both sides, so multiple proceedings are avoided,” remarked a bench of CJI Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar.

The court said this while hearing a plea filed by the management committee of the Shahi Masjid Eidgah against an order passed by the Allahabad High Court in January last year “in the interest of justice” directing that all 15 suits filed by the Hindu side be consolidated.

Multiple suits were originally filed before different courts of Mathura, with a common claim that the Eidgah complex was built on the land believed to be the birthplace of Lord Krishna and where a temple had existed.