Supreme Court of India stays the implementation of the Allahabad High Court order appointing an Advocate Commissioner to inspect the Shahi Eidgah mosque in the Krishna Janmabhoomi case.
The Apex Court on Tuesday (January 16) stayed the implementation of the Allahabad High Court order appointing an Advocate Commissioner to inspect the Shahi Eidgah mosque at Mathura in the 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 mosque committee gainst 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 mosque.
Advocate Tasneem Ahmadi, appearing for the Mosque Committee, argued that the High Court could not have passed the order when an application seeking rejection of the suit as barred by the Places of Worship Act 1991 (under Order VII Rule 11 CPC) is pending. She also placed reliance on the recent judgment in Asma Latheef v. Shabbir Ahmad which held that when the maintainability of a suit is questioned, the trial court must decide at least prima facie on the jurisdiction before granting interim relief.
The bench, while accepting the legal contention on a prima facie level, also expressed reservations about the manner in which the commission application was filed.
“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 what you want the local commissioner to do,” Justice Khanna told Senior Advocate Shyam Divan, representing the plaintiffs.
“There are legal issues that arise. That apart, the application for local commissioner is very vague. Can an application be made like this? …We are staying the operation of the impugned order to the extent of the commission being executed.…”, Justice Khanna said.
The bench issued notice on the petition, returnable on January 23, 2024. “Some legal issues arise for consideration, including the question in light of a judgment of this court in Asma Lateef. Proceedings before the High Court can continue but the commission will not be executed in the meantime”, the bench noted in the order.
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