NEW DELHI: In a move that could impact the general elections in India next year, the Allahabad High Court on Thursday allowed a petition demanding that a court commissioner be appointed to inspect the Shahi Idgah mosque in Uttar Pradesh’s Mathura, reported Live Law.

The petitioners have demanded full ownership of 13.37 acres of land around the mosque, claiming that it is the birthplace of Hindu deity Krishna, the Scroll news portal said.

After the hearing, advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, representing the petitioners, said the court has rejected the arguments of the Shahi Idgah mosque against the survey.

“My demand was that in Shahi Idgah masjid there are a lot of signs and symbols of the Hindu temple, and to know the actual position, an advocate commissioner is required,” Jain told reporters.

He added that the high court will decide the mod­alities about the appointment of the commissioner on December 18.

The suit was filed after the high court had on May 26 transferred to itself all the petitions pending before a Mathura court seeking various reliefs, including removing the mosque that is adjacent to a Krishna temple.

On July 21, a Varanasi district court had passed a similar order allowing a scientific survey of the Gyanvapi mosque in the city.

The district court’s verdict came after the high court held in May that a scientific survey could be conducted of an oval-shaped object found on the mosque premises last year during a survey ordered by a Varanasi civil court.

Published in Dawn, December 15th, 2023