A view of Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi Temple along with Shahi Idgah, in Mathura
| Photo Credit: Sandeep Saxena
A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) which sought Mathura’s Shahi Idgah mosque site to be known as ‘Krishna Janmabhoomi’ (birthplace of Krishna), and the “removal of the mosque standing on the disputed land”, was dismissed by the Allahabad High Court on Wednesday.
A Bench of Chief Justice Pritinker Diwaker and Justice Ashutosh Srivastava passed the order, a detailed copy of which is awaited.
The PIL was filed in 2020 by an advocate, Mahek Maheshwari, who argued that numerous historical texts had documented that the site in question was in fact ‘Krishna Janmabhoomi’.
The petitioner submitted to the court that the roots of Mathura can be traced back to the age of the Ramayan, while Islam arrived much later. The PIL also added that Mathura‘s Shahi Idgah did not qualify as a “legitimate mosque” under Islamic jurisprudence since a mosque could not be constructed on “land acquired through force”.
The petitioners requested the court to order the transfer of the land on which the mosque is situated to Hindus. The PIL also urged that a court-monitored excavation by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) using GPRS technology at the disputed site be carried out.
A civil suit seeking similar orders is pending before a trial court in Mathura.