Mathura temple case: Next hearing on Dec 10

Mathura: A district court here on Wednesday fixed December 10 as the next date for hearing into a petition seeking the removal of a mosque near a temple which the devouts believe marks the birthplace of Lord Krishna.

The court pushed the hearing to next month after a “vakalatnama” was filed on behalf of three of the four defendants in the case, District Government Counsel (Civil) Sanjay Gaur said.

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

On Wednesday, nobody turned up at the court to represent the Shri Krishna Janambhoomi Trust.

A group of people had filed a suit 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 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 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.