The Allahabad High Court today ruled that the trials in 18 cases related to the Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah dispute in Mathura are maintainable and can continue. A single judge bench of Justice Mayank Kumar Jain rejected the Muslim side’s plea challenging grounds of maintainability of the Hindu side’s cases. 

On May 31st this year, the high court reserved its judgement related to the dispute. Several cases have been filed seeking the removal of the Shahi Idgah mosque, which stands adjacent to the Krishna temple. The hearing in the case will begin on the 12th of this month.

The petitioners claim that the Aurangazeb-era mosque was built after the demolition of the temple. But the mosque management committee and the UP Sunni Central Waqf Board argued that the suits were barred under the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, which prohibits changing the status of any place of worship from what it was on the day of the country’s independence. 

Last year, hearing the same bunch of cases, the high court ordered a survey of the mosque by a three-member commissioner team, which was stayed by the Supreme Court earlier this month.