Fine on petitioners seeking removal of mosque near temple

Agra: A local court in Mathura on Friday, hearing a plea for shifting the Shahi Idgah mosque from near the Lord Krishna's Katra Keshav Dev temple here, imposed a fine of Rs 250 on the petitioners’ counsel for seeking an adjournment of the proceeding.
The district government counsel in Mathura, Sanjay Gaur, told TOI that civil judge (senior division) Jyoti Singh imposed the fine after petitioners' counsel Mahendra Pratap Singh sought a deferment on hearing of arguments on the “maintainability of the plea”.
As the proceedings began, advocate Tanveer Ahmad, appearing for the mosque's management committee, sought the court to begin hearing on the maintainability of the suit. However, advocate Singh, sought deferment of arguments, contending that the court should first decide his eight other applications related to the suit.
On a written request by advocate Singh, the court deferred the hearing to April 19 but imposed a fine of Rs 250 on the petitioners.
Apart from Singh, who is president of Shri Krishna Janambhoomi Mukti Andolan Samiti, there are four other petitioners including principal deity Virajman Thakur Keshav Dev Ji Maharaj Katra Keshav Dev, advocate Rajendra Maheshwari, founder of the United Hindu Front Jay Bhagwan Goyal and Dharm Raksha Sangh Vrindavan president Saurabh Gaur.
A deity is considered to be a juristic person with all the rights of a normal individual, including the right to sue and be sued, and a deity is represented in court by what is known as its “next friend”.
The joint plea was filed against the secretary of the Shahi Idgah Masjid's ‘intezamia' (management) committee, the president of the UP Sunni Central Waqf Board and the secretary of the Srikrishna Janmasthan Seva Sansthan.
It has been claimed in the suit that the Shahi Idgah Masjid has been built on a part of the 13.37-acre land of the Katra Keshav Dev temple.