16 January 2024
The Supreme Court on Tuesday stayed implementation of the Allahabad High Court order appointing a Commissioner to inspect Shahi Eidgah Masjid at Mathura in the Shahi Eidgah-Krishna Janmabhoomi case.
A bench comprising Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta passed the interim order while issuing notice on a special leave petition filed by the Masjid Committee against a December 14 order of the Allahabad High Court by which it had allowed an application for the appointment of a court commissioner to inspect the Masjid.
“Can an application be made like this? We have reservations about the application. Look at the prayer. It’s so vague. Read it. You cannot make an omnibus application like this. You have to be very clear about what you want the local commissioner to do,” said Justice Khanna.
The bench said there are some legal issues that have risen in light of the recent decision in the Asma Lateef case on Order VIII Rule 10 of the Civil Procedure Code. The court also said, “The application made the omnibus prayer. The prayer was also vague and not specific.”
The Allahabad HC had last month allowed a court-monitored survey of the Shahi Eidgah and also agreed on the appointment of an advocate commissioner to supervise the survey of the mosque premises.
