Supreme Court Rejects PIL Seeking Archaeological Survey of Mathura’s Shahi Idgah Mosque

The Supreme Court of India declined to entertain a public interest litigation (PIL) that called for an archaeological survey of Mathura’s Shahi Idgah Mosque and the declaration of the site as Shree Krishna Janmabhoomi. The court stated that having multiple litigations on the matter was inappropriate, especially when several civil suits related to the issue were already being adjudicated.

The bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta emphasized that the petitioner had filed the case as a PIL, leading to its rejection. They suggested that the petitioner file it differently, and the court would then consider the matter. The judges pointed out that there were pending suits on the issue before the Allahabad High Court.

The petitioner’s lawyer argued that the PIL was rejected by the high court in October because some suits related to the matter were still pending. However, the Supreme Court maintained that addressing the issue through a PIL was not maintainable. The counsel representing petitioner Mahek Maheshwari mentioned that the PIL also aimed to challenge the validity of the 1991 Places of Worship Act, which protects the “character” of places of worship existing as of August 15, 1947 (except the Ram Janmabhoomi land in Ayodhya) and prohibits legal actions to alter the character of any place of worship.