SC hits pause on survey at Shahi Eidgah mosque

The Supreme Court on Tuesday put in abeyance a survey of the Shahi Eidgah mosque abutting the Krishna Janmabhoomi temple in Mathura by an advocate-commissioner, observing that the plea made by the Hindu side for the survey was "very vague" and that some important legal issues also arise in the matter.

- Utkarsh Anand

"Your application for commissioner was very vague. It had to be specific. This is wrong... You have to be very clear what you want him (commissioner) for, but you leave it to the court. It was an omnibus application," observed a bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta.

Staying the Allahabad high court order of December 14 for the appointment of an advocate-commissioner to oversee the survey of the mosque, the bench was emphatic that the plea of the Hindu plaintiffs did not specify the rationale behind the plea.

"You cannot say that appoint a commissioner in terms of the prayers in the plaint. You must be specific about what exactly you are asking for. Can an application be made like this? We have reservations about the application. It's so vague... You cannot make an omnibus application like this," the bench told senior counsel Shyam Divan, who appeared for the Hindu plaintiffs in the case.

The bench added: "We are staying the proceedings in terms of the appointment of commissioner. We will examine it."

On December 14, the Allahabad high court ordered a survey of the mosque that Hindu plaintiffs say holds signs proving that it was a once a Hindu temple, opening a new chapter in the decades-old dispute that is part of a raft of cases where Hindu petitioners are pushing for legal change to gain rights over Islamic holy sites. It also acquires huge political significance at a time when the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya is scheduled to be consecrated on January 22, and a survey has already been carried out at the disputed Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi.