Lucknow: A local court on Tuesday, May 31, said that if the Hindu parties want to move an application for appointment of a commission to survey the Tilewali Masjid here, they may approach the civil judge before whom the regular suit pertaining to the issue is already pending.
The order came from the district court while hearing a civil revision petition by the Muslim side that challenged the order passed on September 25, 2017 by the civil judge declining to reject the regular suit entirely.
The regular suit was filed by Lord Shesh Nagesh Tileshwar Mahadev in the court of civil judge (junior division) South in the state capital in 2013.
In the suit, it is claimed that there is a temple of Lord Shesh Nagesh at Tilewali Masjid in Lucknow and it was being damaged by the defendants.
The plaintiff had demanded ownership right on the premises and also permission to offer prayers at the site.
When the regular suit was filed, it was opposed by the Muslim side which claimed that the suit was time-barred.
After hearing the parties, the civil judge declined to reject the entire suit on September 25, 2017.
Maulana Syed Shah Fazlur Rahman then moved the district judge on October 11, 2017 filing a civil revision against the order.
Meanwhile, the Hindu parties moved an application before the district judge seeking the appointment of a Commission to survey the premises, so that the site could be protected.
Additional District Judge Kalpana said that the application could be filed before the civil judge because the regular suit is still pending before it.
The ADJ, however, fixed July 2 as the next date for hearing the revision petition.
On the other hand, a fresh revision petition has been filed in a district court in Mathura urging it to direct a survey of the Shahi Idgah mosque and verify the claims of signs of a temple there.
“Additional District Judge Sanjay Chaudhary has set July 8 for the disposal of a revision application”, district government counsel Sanjai Gaur said on Tuesday.
Last week, Additional District Judge Sanjai Chaudhari, while disposing of a similar application, had directed a lower court to speedily decide the plea for appointing a court commissioner to survey the Shahi Idgah mosque and verify the claims of temple signs there.
The revision applications came after the lower court of civil judge (senior division), which is hearing a bunch of suits for the removal of Shahi Idgah Masjid from near the Krishna Janmabhoomi temple, on May 23 fixed the next hearing on July 1 on their application for appointing the survey commissioner.
The petitioners have been seeking an urgent order while expressing apprehension that the evidence of the temple structure may be damaged or destroyed.
The judge had decided to hear the matter on the reopening of courts after the summer vacation, instead of passing an order, the counsel for petitioner Dinesh Chandra Sharma, who has now moved the district court, said.
Sharma, treasurer of Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha, is among those who have filed the suits.
The petitioners had claimed in the earlier application that temple signs are present in the mosque, and had also expressed apprehension that the same (marks) may be disfigured, or destroyed by the defendant of the suit, Sharma said.
It has been requested in the revision application to cancel the order of the lower court and pass an order for the survey, the counsel for the petitioner said.
The lower court is hearing a bunch of suits for the removal of Shahi Idgah Masjid from near the Krishna Janmabhoomi temple in the Katra Keshav Dev Temple complex and subsequent interim applications for appointing a court commissioner to survey the mosque.
The petitioners have sought the mosque’s survey, claiming the existence of several signs of temples, like those of “om, swastika and lotus” inside it besides its alleged “Hindu architecture.”
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The pleas have been filed by deity Thakur Keshav Dev Ji Maharaj virajman (in-situ) in its capacity as a juristic person, represented by advocates Mahendra Pratap Singh and Rajendra Maheshwari as its “next friend”, among others.
The other petitioners included United Hindu Front founder Jai Bhagwan Goyal, a Delhi resident, and Vrindavan’s Dharm Raksha Sangh president Saurabh Gaur.
The defendants are secretary Intezamia Committee Shahi Masjid Idgah, Mathura, chairman of UP Sunni Central Waqf Board Lucknow, managing trustee of Sri Krishna Janmasthan Seva Sansthan Mathura and secretary of Sri Krishna Janmabhumi Trust, Mathura.