Dismissal of plea seeking removal of Mathura mosque challenged in district court

Mathura: Days after a Mathura court dismissed the plea seeking removal of a mosque from near the birthplace of Lord Krishna, plaintiffs moved the district court against the order on Monday

Last month, a group of people had filed a suit in the court of the civil judge, senior division, over the 17th century Shahi Idgah mosque, which they claimed was built at the birthplace of Lord Krishna, within the 13.37-acre premises of the Katra Keshav Dev temple.

The district court has summoned a record from the lower court on October 16, Hari Shankar Jain, counsel for the plaintiffs said.

The judgment passed by the civil judge, senior division, is erroneous and against facts, Jain said, adding that the land was purchased by Jugal Kishor Birla on February 8, 1944, from legal heirs of Raja Patnimal in the name of Madan Mohan Malviya, Goswami Ganesh Dutt and Bhikhan Lal Atrey. The land was transferred to the temple deity after the registration of Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi Trust on March 9, 1951, he said.

In the lower court, the appellants had demanded the annulment of an earlier Mathura court ruling, ratifying a land deal reached between the Shri Krishna Janmasthan Seva Sansthan and the Shahi Idgah Management Committee on behalf of the mosque.

The suit was filed on behalf of child deity Bhagwan Shri Krishna Virajman, through the “next friend” Ranjana Agnihotri and others.

Next friend is a legal term for a person who represents someone directly unable to maintain a suit.

The petition named the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board; Shahi Masjid Idgah Trust; Shri Krishna Janambhoomi Trust; and Shri Krishna Janmasthan Seva Sansthan as defendants.

The plaintiffs sought an order directing the mosque management to “remove the construction raised by them encroaching upon the land within the area of the Katra Keshav Dev temple.”