Hearing adjourned till April 27 on suit seeking to restore temples in Qutub Minar complex

A Delhi court on Saturday adjourned till April 27 hearing on a civil suit seeking restoration of 27 Hindu and Jain temples in the Qutub Minar complex in Mehrauli, a lawyer familiar with the development said.

A Delhi court on Saturday adjourned till April 27 hearing on a civil suit seeking restoration of 27 Hindu and Jain temples in the Qutub Minar complex in Mehrauli, a lawyer familiar with the development said. On December 24 last year, the Saket court had sought to know the locus of the plaintiff and maintainability of the civil suit and had listed the matter for hearing for March 6.

The court was hearing a civil suit filed on behalf of Hindu deity Lord Vishnu, Jain deity Tirthankar Lord Rishabh Dev, and others through next friend advocates Hari Shankar Jain, Ranajna Agnihotri, and Vishnu Shankar Jain. "That this suit is being filed to preserve and protect the religious and cultural heritage of India and to exercise the right to religion guaranteed by Article 25 and 26 of Constitution of India by restoring 27 Hindu and Jain temples with respective deities which were dismantled, desecrated and damaged under the command and orders of Qutub-Din-Aibak, a commander of invader Mohammad Gauri, who established slave dynasty and raised some construction at the same very place of temples naming it as, Quwwat-Ul-Islam Mosque," the suit said.

It has claimed that according to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI), 27 Hindu and Jain temples were demolished and Quwwat-ul-Islam Mosque was raised inside the complex reusing the materials. The suit has sought to declare that Lord Vishnu, Lord Shiva, Lord Ganesh, Lord Sun, Goddess Gauri, Lord Hanuman, Jain deity Tirthankar Lord Rishab Dev have the right to be "restored" within the temple complex at the site of Quwwat-Ul-Islam Mosque Complex, Mehrauli, south-west Delhi "after rebuilding it with the same honor and dignity".

It has also sought to issue an injunction directing the central government to create a trust, according to the Trust Act 1882, and hand over the management and administration of the temple complex, situated within the area of Qutub Complex in Mehrauli, after framing a scheme of the administration to such trust. "Pass a decree like a permanent injunction, restraining the defendants permanently from interfering in making necessary repair works, raising construction and making arrangement for the pooja, darshan, and worship of deities by Sections 16 and 19 of `The Ancient Monuments and Archaeological Sites and Remains Act, 1958` by a trust, to be created by the Central government within the area," the suit said. 

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