Krishna Janmabhoomi - Shahi Idgah Masjid case: Allahabad High Court orders transfer of suit from civil court to High Court

The Allahabad High Court on Friday allowed the plea moved by Hindu side seeking transfer of the suit relating to Krishna Janmabhoomi- Shahi Idgah Masjid dispute, from the trial court to the High Court [Bhagwan Shrikrishna Virajman And 7 Others v UP Sunni Central Waqf Board]..A Bench of Justice Arvind Kumar Mishra I passed the order today."The instant transfer application is allowed...Let the District Judge, Mathura prepare a list of all such cases of similar nature involving the subject matter and touching upon its periphery, expressly or by implication include particulars of such cases and these suits/cases along with record, as above, shall be duly forwarded to this Court within two weeks and the same shall stand transferred to this Court in exercise of suo motu powers of this Court," the Court ordered.In a February 1 order of the High Court, Justice Nalin Kumar Srivastava had opined that the matter required consideration and thereby issued notices to the opposite parties..The suit before the civil court seeks removal of the Mathura Shahi Idgah Masjid on the ground that it was built over Krishna Janmabhoomi land.The petitioners moved the High Court seeking transfer of the trial to the High Court on the ground that the issues in the case concerns crores of Lord Krishna’s devotees and the matter is of national importance. It was further submitted that the case includes substantial questions of law and several issues relating to the interpretation of the Constitution..The petitioners in the plea highlighted that following the initial suit being filed before the Court of Civil Judge Senior Division at Mathura, a number of suits were filed copying the initial plea’s contents verbatim. It was their contention that all these suits were of similar nature and the subject matter as well as relief sought in these cases was similar. A civil court had dismissed the suit on September 30, 2020 citing the bar on admitting the case under the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991. However, this decision was appealed before the Mathura District Court.The appellants asserted that as devotees of Lord Krishna, they have a right to move the suit in view of their fundamental religious rights under Article 25 of the Constitution of India.The Mathura Court in May 2022 held that the suit was maintainable and overturned the civil court order dismissing the suit.Advocates Vishnu Shankar Jain, Pradeep Kumar Sharma and Prabhash Pandey appeared for the petitioners.Advocates Punit Kumar Gupta, Birendra Prasad Maurya, Devid Kumar Singh, Kamlesh Narayan Pandey, Nasiruzzaman, Prateek Rai, Radheshyam Yadav and Varun Singh represented opposite party..[Read Order]