Another mosque-temple dispute: Jaunpur's Atala mosque challenges registration of suit

Prayagraj, UP: The management committee of Jaunpur's Atala Mosque filed a petition against the lower court's orders permitting the registration of a suit alleging that the structure was originally a Hindu temple, which the Allahabad High Court is expected to consider next week in yet another case involving mosque-temple disputes.

The suit was filed before a Jaunpur court by the Swaraj Vahini Association (SVA) and Santosh Kumar Mishra. It sought the "disputed" property be declared 'Atala Devi Mandir' and followers of the Sanatan religion be allowed the right of worship there, PTI reported.

On November 8, Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal directed SVA and Mishra to file their reply within three weeks to the plea by the mosque committee and asked the petitioner to file a rejoinder affidavit within a week.

In the suit, the SVA had prayed for the possession of the structure and sought a mandatory injunction to restrain non-Hindus from entering the property. The plaintiffs had also sought permission to sue under Order 1 Rule 8 CPC in a representative capacity.

Under Order 1 Rule 8 of the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC) dealing with a representative suit, one or more persons can sue or defend on behalf of all persons having the same interest in a suit.

This prayer was allowed in May this year and the same was upheld by an order of the District Judge in August this year. Both the orders have been challenged in the petition before the High Court.

The high court observed that a petition challenging the earlier passed on May 29, 2024, was rejected on August 12, 2024, by the district court solely on the grounds of non-maintainability.

The court said, "Matter requires consideration. Let a counter affidavit be filed by both the respondents within a period of three weeks." The mosque management committee pleaded before the High Court that the complaint was defective, as the plaintiff SVA, a society registered under the Societies Registration Act, was not a juristic person and, thus, was not competent to file the suit in a representative capacity.

Further, the society's bylaws do not authorise it to engage in litigation of this nature, it claimed.

Several litigations filed in various courts related to temple-mosque disputes have come into the limelight including on Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi, Shahi Idgah Mosque in Mathura, Shahi Jama Masjid in Sambhal, Ajmer Dargah of Sufi saint Moinuddin Chishti and Budaun's Jama Masjid Shamsi, where petitioners have claimed that these were built after destroying ancient temples and sought permission to offer Hindu prayers there.

Violence during protests against a court-ordered survey in Uttar Pradesh's Sambhal claimed four lives on November 24.