The Allahabad High Court’s decision to deny a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) calling for the demolition of the Shahi Idgah Mosque in Mathura and its recognition as Krishna Janmabhoomi was dismissed by the Supreme Court on Friday. The PIL is not maintainable since there are already multiple civil proceedings on the grounds it raises that are being considered, according to a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta, who declined to intervene with the High Court’s decision.
“Let’s avoid having numerous lawsuits. The reason it was dismissed (by the High Court) was because you filed it as a PIL. The petitioner was advised by Justice Khanna, “File it as otherwise, we will see.”
SLP is dismissed because we don’t think we should change the contested decision. The Supreme Court said in its ruling, “We make clear that the dismissal of the SLP in no way restricts or prohibits any party from contesting the provisions of any statute or makes any remarks regarding the ability of parties to do so.
The Allahabad High Court denied a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) on October 12, 2023, which called for the demolition of Mathura’s Shahi Idgah Mosque. The petitioner, barrister Mahek Maheshwari, claimed that the mosque was constructed on the site of Lord Krishna’s birth, or Krishna Janmabhoomi.
He argued in his PIL that the site in question was mentioned in multiple sources as Krishna Janmabhoomi land and that, because it was constructed by forceful acquisition of the land, it was not a legitimate mosque. The argument stated that because a mosque cannot be constructed on land that was taken by force, the mosque was not legitimate according to Islamic law. However, the petition also said that even in ruins, a temple was still considered to be a temple according to Hindu jurisprudence.
