Justice Agarwal retired from the high court on April 23, 2020.
The court was hearing a petition against the stopping of prayers by devotees inside the Mughal Mosque which, according to ASI, falls within the category of protected monuments on account of being part of the Qutub complex.
The petitions filed by the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee (AIMC) and the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board had also challenged a Varanasi court order of April 8, 2021 to conduct a comprehensive survey of the Gyanvapi mosque.
AIMPLB member Zafaryab Jilani on Wednesday said the proposed mosque in Ayodhya following last year's Supreme Court verdict is against the Waqf Act and 'illegal' under the Shariat laws.
The apex court rejected an appeal challenging a July 10 decision of the Allahabad high court which had also dismissed the plea finding no error or illegality in the order of a Mathura civil judge who had decided to first hear the issue of maintainability of the suit as raised by management committee of the mosque.
The court said the modalities of the survey will be discussed at the next hearing on December 18.
A district court hearing the Gyanvapi mosque-Shringar Gauri complex case in Varanasi reserved its judgment till September 12 as both the Hindu and Muslim sides concluded their arguments on the maintainability of the suit on Wednesday.
Communal tension has been brewing in Purola and some other towns of Uttarkashi district after two men, one of them Muslim, allegedly tried to abduct a Hindu girl on May 26.
In an interview, he recalled how Hashim Ansari, one of the original litigants in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute, took him to the mosque on his bicycle.
The Allahabad high court on Monday dismissed a petition filed against the allotment of land in Ayodhya's Dhannipur village for the construction of a mosque, following the Supreme Court verdict in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute.
The temple is said to be situated in close vicinity of Teele Wali Masjid at Laxman Teela.
The Supreme Court on Monday termed as "absolutely frivolous" a petition filed by former UP Shia Waqf Board chairman Waseem Rizvi seeking the removal of 26 verses from holy Quran and dismissed it with a cost of Rs 50,000.
In a historic verdict in November on the Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute, the Supreme Court ruled in favour of construction of a temple. It also ruled that an alternative five-acre plot must be found for a mosque within Ayodhya.
Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations will not be held at Bengaluru's Idgah Maidan, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday while refusing to grant permission for the function and ordered status quo on the plot by both parties. Noting that no such function as Ganesh Chaturthi was organised at Idgah Maidan for the past 200 years, the top court asked the parties to approach the Karnataka high court for the resolution of the dispute.
The Allahabad high court on Thursday reserved till August 3 its order on a plea against the survey of Gyanvapi mosque premises by the Archeological Survey of India.
The senior advocate had represented the Muslim parties, including the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board, in the case in trial court, Allahabad High Court and the Supreme Court.
The Centre on Monday told the Delhi high court that Mughal Mosque in South Delhi's Mehrauli area is a "protected monument" and sought time to state its stand on a plea against the stopping of offering namaaz by devotees there.
He also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to take part in an event related to the pran pratishtha on any day during January 20-24.
Stressing that the decision of the Sunni Central Waqf Board, one of the main litigants, will have no effect on the AIMPLB decision, Jilani said the board has already taken a final decision in this regard in its meeting on November 17.
It also assured that the amount of medical insurance coverage under the Ayushman Bharat scheme would be doubled from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh.
The Supreme Court on Monday directed authorities to remove a mosque from the premises of the Allahabad high court within three months, telling the petitioners that opposing the demolition that the structure stood on a terminated lease property and they can't claim it as a matter of right to continue.
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The lawyers said the mediation panel's report was leaked to the media and they do not approve the procedures adopted in the process and the suggested compromise formula of withdrawal of the lawsuit.
Mishra said that the court has fixed July 7 for the next hearing.
The Uttarakhand police on Saturday picked up Yati Narasimhanand from his dharna site in Haridwar in connection with the case of Dharma Sansad where alleged hate speeches against Muslims were delivered.
The court asked the UP govt to get examined the disputed premises by a five-member team of the ASI at its expense.
In an unusual coincidence, the two judges of a Supreme Court bench hearing a plea against the survey of the Gyanvapi-Shringar Gauri complex in Varanasi have had an association with a similar kind of dispute relating to the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri masjid issue as well.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to entertain a plea seeking to prevent a 'mahapanchayat' called by Hindu outfits in Uttarakhand and registration of an FIR against hate speeches allegedly targeting members of a particular community.
While closing the contempt proceedings, the bench observed that the matter ought to have come up for hearing earlier.
Narsinghanand's release follows bail granted to him on Tuesday by a local court in a case slapped on him under Section 509 of the Indian Penal Code for making objectionable remarks against women and abusing a journalist.
The Allahabad high court Thursday directed the lower court concerned to decide within four months the temporary injunction application as well as a plea for bunching together the trial in all pending cases related to the Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah mosque dispute.
The petitioner submitted an application in the court of the Civil Judge on Monday seeking permission for 'purification' of the sanctum sanctorum of the Keshav Dev temple, which he claimed was inside the mosque, his counsel said.
Justice Jasmeet Singh, who was hearing a plea by the Delhi Waqf Board seeking a direction to open the mosque for the holy month, clarified that no "Tablighi activities" and lectures can take place on the premises and only prayers can be offered.
The plea, filed by advocates Shishir Chaturvedi and Karunesh Kumar Shukla, said that apart from private individuals and members of state Sunni Board, the presence of central and state government representatives was essential to ensure proper management of the funds.
But three years after the apex court settled the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid land dispute, there are no signs of any building activity on the proposed mosque site.
The Waqf Board has sought time from the top court for setting up of a committee for exploring an amicable resolution of the vexatious issue.
A notification by the MHA said a trust by the name 'Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Teerth Kshetra' has been registered with its registered office at R-20, Greater Kailash Part-1, New Delhi, 110048. The ministry also said as directed by the SC, the UP government has already issued the allotment letter of a five-acre plot to the Sunni Central Waqf Board for construction of a mosque.
The apex court, which delivered a historic verdict and put the curtains down on the vexatious legal battle that had torn the social fabric of the nation, said that dividing the land would not subserve the interest of either of the parties or secure a lasting sense of peace and tranquillity.
While Ayodhya resembled a city under seige earlier during the day, the scene was no different elsewhere in the state with police and central forces keeping an eye over the security situation and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath personally monitoring it from a hi-tech control room in the state capital.