The Supreme Court of India on January 22, 2025 extended the stay that had been issued on an order of Allahabad High Court from December 14, 2023, where a court-appointed commissioner was authorized to inspect the complex of Shahi Idgah mosque as the dispute regarding its possession had already been ongoing for years between two parties, Hindus and Muslims. This case pertains to the long-standing legal and religious conflict over the Krishna Janmabhoomi and Shahi Idgah mosque, located in close proximity to each other.
A bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Sanjiv Khanna, along with Justices Sanjay Kumar and K.V. Viswanathan, heard the appeal filed by the Mosque Committee against the High Court’s order and decided to continue the stay on the inspection until further notice. The bench also fixed the case for a hearing in the week beginning April 1, 2025.
This matter has been a subject of controversy for many years, with Hindu petitioners asserting that the Shahi Idgah mosque was built over the Krishna Janmasthan, the birthplace of Lord Krishna. Hindu organizations have filed several lawsuits demanding that the mosque be relocated, claiming the land should belong to the Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi Trust. These litigations also draw attention to the belief that a Hindu temple once stood at the site.
Background of the Dispute
The Allahabad High Court in December 2023 has ruled that the suits filed by Hindu petitioners regarding the Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah dispute were not barred by the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991. The Act prohibits the conversion of religious structures into a different religious character after August 15, 1947, except in the case of the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute. The mosque committee, however, contested this order, arguing that the suits should not be entertained, particularly since their petitions challenging the High Court’s order were still pending in the Supreme Court.
The Muslim parties also raised the issue of the maintainability of 18 cases related to the dispute, claiming that these suits violate the 1991 Act. However, the High Court rejected these claims, ruling that the religious character of the mosque should be determined through the ongoing legal proceedings. The High Court’s decision to allow a court-monitored survey of the Shahi Idgah mosque complex has sparked significant debate.
Supreme Court Interim Orders
The Supreme Court had, initially on January 16, 2024, stayed the operation of the High Court’s order. It, in its last order of January 22, 2025, once again made its point over the issue of legal complications emerging from the case in terms of constitutional validity of the Act of 1991 and the pending intra-court appeals. As the legal battle continues, the Court has ordered that the status quo be maintained, with the stay on the court-monitored survey remaining in effect.
The stay means that the Allahabad High Court’s order authorising a court-appointed commissioner to inspect the Shahi Idgah complex will not move forward until the Supreme Court hears the case further in April 2025. The Court further made it clear that there were three specific issues that needed to be addressed: the intra-court appeal, the status of the 1991 Act, and the peculiar details related to the mosque and temple dispute.
The Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah mosque complex controversy is one of the bigger issues India is trying to solve between religious sentiments and legal frameworks. For the Hindu petitioners, the case is a fight to reclaim what they consider to be their sacred heritage. For the Muslim parties, it is a matter of preserving the religious significance of the Shahi Idgah mosque, which has stood for centuries.
The ongoing legal battle also has broader implications for the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, which was designed to maintain the religious status quo of places of worship across the country. The Act exempted only the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi dispute, making the current case a unique challenge to the Act’s provisions.
ALSO READ: Court Orders Removal Of MF Husain’s ‘Offensive’ Paintings From Delhi Art Gallery
