A Mathura court on Wednesday heard another application filed in connection with the Shri Krishna Janmbhoomi-Shahi Idgah Mosque dispute. The application sought permission that the suit filed by the plaintiffs be heard in a representative capacity.
The application was filed by advocate Shailendra Singh, the latest plaintiff to file a suit over the issue. Mr. Singh said he had filed it under Section 92 read with Section 91 and 151 of the Code of Civil Procedure so that the suit can be considered as representative of the prayers of the larger Hindu community.
While hearing the matter, additional district judge Sanjay Chaudhary asked Mr. Singh how his application would override the principle of res judicata (which allows for similar suits to be consolidated), given that the Allahabad High Court had already directed a lower court to decide on consolidating all suits within four months.
Mr. Singh then sought more time to address these queries, following which the judge posted the matter for hearing on May 31.
Meanwhile, the civil judge (senior division) in Mathura is all set to begin hearing the first suit filed in the matter by advocate Ranjana Agnihotri. This suit was earlier dismissed by a civil court. After this, the plaintiffs approached the district court, which remanded the matter back to the trial court.
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Tanveer Ahmed, secretary of the Shahi Idgah Masjid management committee and the lawyer for the mosque, said the first hearing in Mr. Agnihotri's suit would be held on Thursday. He added that another suit, filed by advocate Mahendra Pratap, was already at the stage of arguments and the next date of hearing in this was set for July 1.
Mr. Ahmed said the mosque had so far received notice in a total of six suits — nearly identical to each other.
Gyanvapi dispute
A Varanasi district court is set to begin hearing the Gyanvapi Mosque-Kashi Vishwanath Temple dispute case on Thursday as well, where Mr. Agnihotri is expected to argue as part of the plaintiff Hari Shankar Jain's team.
In the Gyanvapi dispute, district and sessions judge A.K. Vishvesha will start hearing the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee's plea challenging the maintainability of the suit filed by the Hindu parties. The court has also directed all concerned parties to file objections to the report submitted by the commission that surveyed the mosque premises.
While the report is yet to be made public, videos alleged to be part of the survey were leaked based on which the Hindu parties claimed that a Shivling was discovered and the Muslim side claimed that the structure was part of the fountain at the mosque's wuzu khana.
And now, based on the Hindu parties' claims, another civil suit has been filed before a civil court in Varanasi, seeking the right to worship on the mosque premises. The suit, filed by one Kiran Singh, said the main case would take a considerable amount of time to be tried and that the Hindu worshippers should be given undeterred access to the mosque premises in the meantime.
Significantly, on Wednesday, the civil judge in Varanasi transferred this suit to the fast-track civil court of Mahendra Pandey, who is now set to hear the matter on May 30.
