Lawsuit seeking Shahi Idgah's removal: Mathura court fixes July 20 as next date of hearing

Mathura (UP), May 21 (PTI) A fast-track court here has fixed July 20 as the next date of hearing in a suit related to the shifting of the Shahi Masjid Idgah from the land of the Katra Keshav Dev temple filed by petitioner Gopal Baba, a disciple of Naga Baba, last year, the petitioner's counsel said.

"Owing to a no-work call given by the Bar Council of Uttar Pradesh on Friday, the matter was posted for hearing on July 20," Deepak Sharma, the counsel for the petitioner, said.

Claiming himself to be a disciple of Lord Krishna, Gopal Baba had filed the suit in the court of the civil judge (senior division) on September 20, 2021 for the shifting of the Shahi Masjid Idgah, constructed on a part of a 13.37-acre land of the Katra Keshav Dev temple.

Subsequently, the suit was transferred to Additional Civil Judge (fast-track court) Neeraj Gaund on the orders of the Mathura district judge, Sharma said.

The defendants to the suit are the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf board, the Intezamia Committee, the Shahi Masjid Idgah, the Sri Krishna Janmasthan Seva Sansthan and the Srikrishna Janmabhumi trust.

So far, 11 suits with almost an identical demand (the shifting of the Shahi Masjid Idgah) have been filed in different courts of Mathura.