KRISHNA JANMABHOOMI CASE: SC TO HEAR MUSLIM SIDE'S PLEA AGAINST ALLAHABAD HC VERDICT ON SEPTEMBER 17
The Supreme Court will hear the Muslim side's plea in the Krishna Janmabhoomi case reportedly on Tuesday. The petition challenges the verdict by the Allahabad High Court that rejected the mosque committee's objection to the maintainability of several lawsuits initiated by Hindu devotees.
In its appeal, the Committee of Management Trust Shahi Masjid Idgah challenged the High Court's August 1 ruling, which dismissed their applications under Order VII Rule 11 of the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC). These applications, submitted by the mosque committee, had requested the rejection of plaints in 15 separate lawsuits filed by Hindu devotees.
The management committee, represented by advocates Mehmood Pracha and RHA Sikander, has requested interim relief in the form of a stay on the High Court's order.
"The petitioner, who has been named as a defendant by different plaintiffs/respondents in the 15 suits, filed individual applications under Order VII Rule 11 of the CPC in each suit, seeking the rejection of the respective plaints. These plaints were barred by the provisions of the Limitation Act, Places of Worship Act, Specific Relief Act, Waqf Act, and Order XXIII Rule 3A of the CPC," the plea stated.
"After hearing all parties in the 15 suits, the High Court passed a fundamentally flawed judgment by selectively combining pleadings from different suits filed by various plaintiffs/respondents, which sought different reliefs, into a single composite suit. The court then selectively read these pleadings to dismiss all applications filed under Order VII Rule 11 of the CPC in a common judgment," the plea added.
"The High Court issued a common judgment by selectively combining the pleadings from the 15 suits, without taking into account the specific pleadings of each plaint to determine whether that particular plaint was barred by law," the mosque committee argued in its submission.
On August 1, the Allahabad High Court rejected the mosque committee's petition that contested the validity of the lawsuits filed by Hindu devotees.