The Aryavarth Express
Agency(New Delhi): The Supreme Court, on Tuesday, concluded consideration of a new challenge against the Allahabad High Court’s decision to amalgamate 15 lawsuits concerning the dispute between Mathura’s Sri Krishna Janmabhoomi and the Shahi Idgah Masjid. The bench, led by Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta, granted the Committee of Management Trust Shahi Masjid Idgah, which objected to the January 11 order, the freedom to seek the revocation of the said order at the high court.
“The petitioner has sought the annulment of the challenged judgment by the Allahabad High Court. We are concluding the current Special Leave Petition (SLP), allowing the petitioner to recommence the recall petition before the high court,” the justices declared.
The committee’s legal representative highlighted the pending nature of the recall request for the January 11 order before the high court, seeking the Supreme Court’s intervention for a predetermined hearing date. However, the bench declined to issue such a directive.
The Allahabad High Court, on January 11, had deemed it judicious to consolidate the 15 cases upon a request from a Hindu claimant. This consolidation was advocated based on the similarity of the cases, which pertain to a 13.37-acre plot and were initiated following the original lawsuit filed in Mathura’s civil court on September 25, 2020. The High Court justified its decision, citing the efficiency of proceedings, cost reduction, and the avoidance of contradictory rulings as the primary benefits of handling these cases concurrently based on shared evidence.
Additionally, on January 29, the apex court maintained an interim halt on the enforcement of this High Court directive, which included a court-supervised survey of the Shahi Idgah Mosque complex adjacent to the Krishna Janmabhoomi temple site. This stay followed an earlier suspension of the High Court’s December 14, 2023, mandate that permitted the survey, responding to claims that the mosque contains evidence of being a historical temple site.
Nevertheless, the Supreme Court has clarified that the High Court’s deliberations on this matter, including the examination of the lawsuit’s validity under Order 7 Rule 11 of the Civil Procedure Code, will persist. The apex court is concurrently addressing another petition from the mosque committee contesting the High Court’s May 26, 2023, order that consolidated all related disputes to the Mathura court into its purview, echoing procedural precedents from the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi title conflict.