New Delhi, Jan 5 : The Supreme Court dismissed a plea on Friday challenging an Allahabad High Court order that rejected a PIL urging the Uttar Pradesh government to acquire Mathura’s Krishna Janmabhoomi Janmasthan and allocate it to Hindus for worshiping Lord Krishna.
“The issue is already pending before the high court. Let’s not have multiplicity of litigation,” remarked a bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta while rejecting the appeal against the high court’s October 11, 2023, decision.
The petitioner, Mahek Maheshwari, asserted that the high court had dismissed the PIL on the grounds that suits were already pending. In response, the bench emphasized that since the petitioner had filed a PIL, it was dismissed by the high court.
“We are not inclined to interfere with the impugned judgement, and hence the SLP is dismissed. We clarify that the dismissal of the SLP does not comment on the right of parties to challenge the vires of any enactment or prevent or bar any party from challenging the vires of any enactment,” the bench ordered.
Maheshwari, in his PIL, expressed as a devout Hindu, prayed for the facilitation and protection of his fundamental right to worship. The plea urged the state government to acquire the actual site of Krishna Janmabhoomi Janmasthan, currently occupied by the Shahi Idgah Mosque, and hand it over to Hindus for the worship of Lord Krishna Virajman.
The state government’s counsel opposed the PIL, contending that it is not in the public interest and serves a personal cause. The counsel referred to the high court’s May 26, 2023 order, which transferred 10 cases pending before the Civil Judge, Senior Division, Mathura, dealing with similar issues as the PIL.
The high court, in its order, stated, “Since the issues involved in the present writ (PIL) are already engaging the attention of the Court in appropriate proceedings (i.e. the pending suits), we are not inclined to entertain the instant writ (PIL), and the same is accordingly dismissed.”
