The Allahabad High Court has scheduled the next hearing for the Krishna Janmabhumi-Shahi Idgah dispute in Mathura for September 30. This decision follows a recent application by the Hindu side to amend its original petition.
Justice Mayank Kumar Jain is presiding over the consolidation of 18 different suits related to this long-standing temple-mosque conflict. The cases center around the Shahi Idgah mosque, which the Hindu plaintiffs assert was built over a demolished temple marking the birthplace of Lord Krishna.
The legal proceedings took a significant turn on August 1, when the court rejected a plea by the Muslim side challenging the maintainability of these 18 cases. The Muslim side had argued that the suits violated the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act of 1991, which generally prohibits changing the religious nature of any place of worship as it existed at the time of India’s independence, with the exception of the Ayodhya dispute.
However, the high court ruled that the Act does not explicitly define “religious character” and asserted that a single location cannot simultaneously have conflicting religious identities—either as a temple or a mosque. The court emphasized that the religious character of the disputed site as of August 15, 1947, must be determined based on both documentary and oral evidence presented by both parties.
