NEW DELHI: Supreme Court on Friday said it was of the prima facie view that the Shahi Masjid Idgah management committee should have appealed the order of a single judge of Allahabad HC before a division bench of the HC, instead of moving the SC directly, to question maintainability of Hindu side suits claiming the entire disputed premises in Mathura to be the birthplace of Sri Krishna.
The masjid committee has challenged the Aug 1 order of the single judge which said the 15 suits filed by Hindu parties claiming right over the Idgah as the birthplace of Sri Krishna were maintainable and ordering them to be clubbed together for a joint trial.
The single judge had rejected the Muslim side’s plea that the suits were barred by limitation as these were filed nearly 50 years after leaders of the two communities had reached an agreement to continue their respective religious activities in the areas demarcated for the mosque and the Sri Krishna Janmasthan temple. The masjid committee had also unsuccessfully pleaded before the HC that all the suits were covered by the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, which barred any change in the religious character of a place of worship after Aug 15, 1947.
Right at the beginning of the hearing on Friday, a bench of CJI Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar said it was of the prima facie view that the appellant (masjid committee) could have challenged the single judge’s order before a division bench of the HC through an intra-court appeal. This preliminary view synced with the argument by Hindu side counsel Vishnu Jain.
However, as Idgah management committee counsel Tasneem Ahmadi said the issue would require an elaborate scrutiny of facts woven intricately with the history of the place, the bench agreed and posted the matter for arguments on Dec 9. In the last two orders, the court had asked the parties to submit written submissions on the advisability of resorting to intra-court appeal before the HC.