New Delhi, Mar 19 : The Supreme Court on Tuesday disposed of a new petition challenging the order of the Allahabad High Court consolidating 15 suits related to the Mathura’s Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah Masjid dispute.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta granted the Committee of Management Trust Shahi Masjid Idgah, which contested the January 11 order, the liberty to pursue its recall application before the high court.
“The petitioner has called for the recall of the impugned judgment of the Allahabad High Court. We dispose of the present SLP with liberty to revive the recall petition before the high court,” the bench ordered.
The committee’s counsel informed the court that the application to recall the January 11 order is pending before the high court. She requested the court to direct the listing of the application before the high court on a specific date.
However, the bench declined to pass such an order.
On January 11, the high court, “in the interest of justice,” directed the consolidation of the 15 suits upon an application filed by the Hindu plaintiff.
The Hindu plaintiff argued before the high court that after the original suit was filed before the civil judge (senior division), Mathura, on September 25, 2020, several other suits were filed regarding the 13.37-acre land.
The high court’s order stated, “These suits are of similar nature. The proceedings in these suits can be taken up, and the suits may be decided simultaneously on the basis of common evidence. To save the time of the Court, the expenses to be incurred by the parties, and to avoid conflicting judgments, it appears expedient in the interest of justice to consolidate the suits with each other.”
On January 29, the Supreme Court ordered the continuation of the interim stay on the operation of the Allahabad High Court order for a court-monitored survey of the Shahi Idgah Mosque complex adjoining the Krishna Janmabhoomi temple in Mathura.
On January 16, it stayed the operation of the December 14, 2023 order of the Allahabad High Court allowing a court-monitored survey of the Shahi Idgah Mosque complex.
It also stayed the high court’s order by which it agreed to the appointment of a court commissioner to oversee the survey of the mosque premises. The Hindu side claims it has signs suggesting it was once a temple.
The Supreme Court clarified that the proceedings before the high court in the dispute, including the maintainability of the suit under Order 7 Rule 11 of the Civil Procedure Code (CPC), will continue.
The top court is already considering another petition filed by the mosque committee challenging the May 26, 2023 order of the high court transferring to itself all matters related to the dispute pending before a Mathura court.
The Hindu side had prayed before the high court that it should conduct the original trial as it had done in the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi title dispute.
