The survey of a 17th century mosque amid claims that it was built at Lord Krishna's birthplace in Uttar Pradesh is on hold for now after the Supreme Court today paused a High Court order.
The Allahabad High Court had last month appointed a commissioner to carry out a survey at the Shahi Idgah mosque in Mathura on the lines of a similar assessment at the Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi.
That order was put on hold by the Supreme Court, which said the purpose of appointing the commissioner was "vague".
"The prayer (for commissioner), it is so vague. It has to be specific. This is wrong, you have to be very clear what you want him for. You can't leave everything to the court to look into," said a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta.
Multiple cases are pending before courts on the Shahi Idgah-Krishna Janmabhoomi dispute, with Hindu petitioners demanding the land on which the mosque is built.
Hindu outfits assert that the Shahi Idgah mosque was built on the ruins of a temple marking the birthplace of Lord Krishna or "Krishna Janmabhoomi".
A local court admitted in December the plea of Hindu petitioners demanding a survey, but the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Wakf Board and the Idgah committee had challenged it in the High Court.
The Hindu petitioners have demanded full ownership of the contested 13.37 acres of land, claiming the centuries-old mosque was built by demolishing the Katra Keshav Dev temple that stood there earlier. They alleged this was ordererd by Mughal emperer Aurangzeb.
The petitioners claim as evidence some lotus carvings on the mosque, as well as shapes supposedly resembling the 'sheshnag' or the snake demigod in Hindu mythology. These are proof that the mosque was built over a temple, they argue.
The mosque committee requested the court to dismiss the petition by citing the Places of Worship Act of 1991, which maintains the religious status of any place of worship as it was on Independence Day August 15, 1947.
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