Mathura mosque matter beyond remit of Waqf tribunal, argues Hindu side

The Hindu side on Thursday countered in the Allahabad High Court the Shahi Idgah committee's argument that the maintainability of the suit seeking ''removal'' of the mosque must be heard by a Waqf tribunal, saying that matter is beyond the ambit of the tribunal.

Ajay Kumar Singh appearing on behalf of the Hindu side submitted that the present dispute is beyond the ambit of the Waqf tribunal and only the civil court has jurisdiction to decide the present dispute. The counsel for the Muslim side, Taslima Aziz Ahmadi, during the last hearing on April 1, had claimed, ''In this way a question/dispute has been raised on Waqf property and thus provisions of the Waqf Act will apply, and in such it is the Waqf tribunal that has the jurisdiction to hear the matter and not a civil court.'' On Thursday, Ahmadi appeared in the court through video conferencing and sought time to summarise her arguments in the court.

The court fixed April 18 for further hearing in the matter as the court's time was over.

Singh also mentioned a judgement of the Supreme Court of 1999, according to which religious disputes have to be decided by civil court, he argued.

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