SC Upholds Allahabad HC On Mathura Temple

New Delhi:The Supreme Court on Monday held that the Allahabad High Court was “prima facie correct” in permitting Hindu litigants to amend their suits in the Mathura Krishna Janmabhoomi–Shahi Idgah case by adding the Union home ministry and the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) as respondents.

A bench of Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar remarked, “One thing is clear: the amendment to the original plaint must be allowed,” and noted that the state and ASI could file their replies to the revised pleadings. The Court made no final determination on the merits but refused to block the high court’s order.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court deferred hearing the Shahi Idgah mosque committee’s challenge to the amendments. That petition has been tagged with other pending matters relating to the same dispute and will be heard at a later date.

On March 5, the Allahabad High Court had allowed two suits to be amended to include—among others—the “Devta Bhagwan Shri Krishna Lala Virajman” and the “Dev asthan Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi” as plaintiffs, and to implead the Home Ministry and ASI as defendants. The mosque committee argued this fundamentally altered the nature of the original litigation and alleged that no formal application under the Civil Procedure Code had justified adding those parties.

Several overlapping suits — over 15 in total — remain pending over competing claims to the Mughal-era Shahi Idgah mosque, which Hindu litigants assert was built atop Lord Krishna’s birthplace. The high court had earlier consolidated all Hindu-side suits on January 11, 2024, a decision the mosque committee unsuccessfully sought to recall last October.