Cour t junks petitions in Krishna Janmabhoomi case

MATHURA (UP): The Mathura district court has dismissed nine petitions filed by various organisations, including the Akhil Bharatiya Tirth Purohit Mahasabha, Mathur Chaturvedi Parishad and Hindu Mahasabha to become a party in the case filed earlier for the removal of a 17th century mosque from near the Krishna Janmabhoomi temple in Mathura.

The next hearing on the revision petition filed by Lucknow lawyer, Ranjana Agnihotri, is scheduled on March 22.

While priests' bodies had condemned the petition for the removal of the Shahi Idgah mosque built within the Katra Keshav Dev temple, on grounds that the issue can create "communal disturbance in the town", other organisations, including the Hindu Mahasabha had claimed that the Eidgah, adjacent to Krishna's birthplace, is 'illegal'.

According to district government counsel Shivram Singh, all the pleas have been dismissed by the court as the "appeal" had been modified into a "revision" petition.

In such a situation, no one can become the party in the suit filed by Lucknow-based advocate Ranjana Agnihotri and seven others. Last year on October 16, Mathura district court had admitted an appeal filed against the dismissal of a civil suit on September 30, seeking ownership of 13.37-acre Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi land and removal of Shahi Idgah mosque from the site.

Earlier this month, the management trust committee of Shahi Idgah had moved an application in the district court objecting to the admission of an appeal filed against the dismissal of a civil suit as it was registered as a 'miscellaneous' petition, which was dismissed by the court.

While hearing the objections raised by the committee, the district judge directed for the modification of the petition and its registration as a 'revision' petition on January 18.