Another suit seeks transfer of Idgah Masjid land to Mathura’s Krishna temple

A priest has filed another suit seeking transfer of the 13.37 acre Shahi Idgah Masjid land near Mathura’s Sri Krishna temple complex to the deity.

The fresh case has been filed months after a local court in September dismissed another suit filed on behalf of child deity Bhagwan Shri Krishna Virajman seeking removal of the Shahi Idgah Masjid near the complex.

“This [fresh] case was filed on February 2 against the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board, the management committee of Shahi Masjid Idgah, Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi Trust, and Sri Krishna Janmasthan Seva Sansthan,” said R S Bhardwaj, the lawyer of the petitioner priest, Pawan Kumar Shastri.

“The case was filed in the court of civil judge (senior division) in Mathura. Thursday was fixed for hearing. But the presiding officer was on leave. So, the case was heard by link officer, additional district judge (sixth)…”

He added they argued on the maintainability of the case.

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Additional district judge (Mathura) Chhaya Sharma earlier in September refused to admit another suit citing the bar under the Place of Worship (Special Provisions) Act. The law was passed at the height of the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute in 1991. It seeks to protect all religious structures as they existed at the time of Independence with the exception of the site at Ayodhya.

The Supreme Court invoked the law in 2019 while awarding the disputed site at Ayodhya to child deity Ram Lalla. It reaffirmed that such similar cases cannot be entertained with respect to other sites in view of the law.

The suit dismissed in September claimed ownership of the entire land of 13.37 acres land believed to be the birthplace of Lord Sri Krishna, the 8th incarnation of Lord Vishnu. It was filed on September 25 through the next friend of the child deity, Ranjana Agnihotri, an advocate and a resident of Lucknow.

The suit sought cancellation of a settlement over the matter between the Shri Krishna Janmasthan Seva Sansthan, which is the governing body of the temple complex, and the Committee of Management of Trust of Shahi Idgah (Idgah Trust) in 1968.