Laxman Teela row: Lucknow court rejects revision plea filed by Muslim side
Lucknow, Feb 28: The court of additional district judge here has dismissed a revision plea challenging a lower court order rejecting the objection against a civil suit seeking right of worship at Laxman Teela where Teele Wali Masjid is situated.
According to the civil suit filed by the Hindu side, a temple of Shesh Nagesh Teeleshwar Mahadev is situated in close vicinity of Teele Wali Masjid.
In his order passed recently, Additional District Judge (ADJ) Narendra Kumar said that the civil suit cannot be dismissed summarily without recording the evidence and only on the objection of the Muslim side.
The ADJ observed that there was no illegality in the order of the civil Judge (junior division), passed on September 6, 2023, in entertaining the suit on its merit.
The order has paved the way for disposal of the civil suit on merit to decide as to whether the plaintiffs would have uninterrupted right to worship at Laxman Teela.
Plaintiff Nripendra Pandey and others filed the suit in representative capacity before the civil judge, alleging that at the time of Mughal ruler Aurangzeb, Laxman Teela was damaged and a mosque was constructed at the site, now known as Teele Wali Masjid.
It has been said that there still exists the temple of Shesh Nagesh Teeleshwar Mahadev and Shesh Nagesh Patal Koop.
The plaintiffs alleged that in June 2023, when they went to perform puja at the site, they were threatened by the Muslim side and hence they filed the civil suit seeking injunction order against the Muslim side for not disturbing them from worship.
Earlier, the Muslim side had filed a plea before the civil judge that the suit was not maintainable for it being time barred under the Place of Worship Act 1991 and also under the provisions of the Waqf Act 1995. The civil judge had rejected the said objection of the Muslim side, against which the revision was filed before the ADJ.
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Voting underway for local body elections in Gujarat
Ahmedabad (PTI): Voting got underway on Sunday morning for elections to several local bodies in Gujarat, including 15 municipal corporations and 84 municipalities.
Polling began at 7 am and will continue till 6 pm, as per the schedule announced by the State Election Commission.
The elections are being held for 15 municipal corporations, including Ahmedabad, Surat, Vadodara and Rajkot, 84 municipalities, 34 district panchayats and 260 taluka panchayats, making it one of the largest electoral exercises in the state.
A total of 9,992 candidates are in the fray, with more than 4.18 crore voters eligible to exercise their franchise.
A three-tier security is in place, aided by CCTV surveillance and deployment of special squads in sensitive areas, police officials said.
The polls are being conducted under revised norms for Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservations, and required extensive delimitation and restructuring of wards in several districts.
The ruling BJP, Opposition Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have emerged as the key players, while All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) is also contesting in several places.
Among notable candidates are former Gujarat-cadre IPS officer M L Ninama, ex-radio jockey Abha Desai, and former AAP MLA Bhupendra Bhayani.
Ninama is contesting from the Odh seat in Shamlaji taluka for the Arvalli district panchayat elections, while the BJP has nominated Bhayani from the Bhesan seat of the Junagadh district panchayat.
Desai, popularly known as RJ Abha, is contesting as a Congress candidate from ward number 10 of the Rajkot Municipal Corporation.
Elections are also being held for the first time in nine newly-created municipal corporations, including Navsari, Gandhidham, Morbi, Vapi, Anand, Nadiad, Mehsana, Porbandar and Surendranagar.
Counting of votes will take place on April 28.
Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel campaigned extensively for the BJP.
The AAP had taken the lead over other parties in launching the campaign, with its national convenor, Arvind Kejriwal, and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann addressing several rallies across Gujarat.
In a first for AAP, the Kejriwal-led party is contesting around 5,000 seats in local polls.
Other contestants include the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and Independents.
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi campaigned in the final phase, addressing public meetings in Ahmedabad and Bhuj.
In March 2021, the BJP scored a landslide win in the local polls in Gujarat, winning 6,236 out of 8,470 seats across various municipalities and establishing a wide gap with rival Congress.
The BJP had then dominated all six municipal corporations, besides 81 municipalities, 32 district panchayats, and 231 taluka panchayats.
