Mathura: A group of devout Hindus has moved a Mathura civil court here for removal of a mosque allegedly built on orders of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb in 1669-70 at the exact birthplace of Lord Sri Krishna within the 13.37-acre premises of Katra Keshav Dev temple in the holy city.
The petition filed in the court of Mathura Senior Civil Judge Chhaya Sharma on Friday has also demanded the annulment of a 1968 Mathura court ruling, ratifying a land deal reached between the Shree Krishna Janmasthan Seva Sansthan and Shahi Idgah Management Committee, perpetuating the existence of the mosque within the temple premises.
The petition was filed by Lucknow resident Ranjana Agnihotri and five others, including Delhi resident Parvesh Kumar, Rajesh Mani Tripathi of Siddharth Nagar in Uttar Pradesh, Karunesh Kumar Shukla of Basti, and Shivaji Singh and Tripurari Tiwari, both of Lucknow.
Agnihotri, 51, has also moved the court as the next friend of both the deities, Sri Krishna Virajman and the Asthan Shrikrishna Janam Bhoomi, Katra Keshav Dev, claiming both to be juristic persons, liable to be represented in courts by their next friends , if the temple 'shebaits' fail to move court to protect deities rights and interests.
The petitioners have arrayed four organizations as the respondents in their plea. They include the UP Sunni Central Waqf Board and the Committee of Management of the Shahi Masjid Idgah, the 17th-century mosque existing within the temple premises.
The two other bodies which have been arrayed as respondents are Shree Krishna Janambhoomi Trust, Mathura and Shree Krishna Janm Sthan Sewa Sansthan through their respective secretaries.
The petitioners made the two temple bodies as respondents arguing that they have failed to protect the interests of the deities.
On the timing of the moving court, the petitioners have asserted that the cause of action against the continuing wrong has been accruing every day and it last accrued on January 15, 2020, when the plaintiffs had visited Mathura to pay their obeisance to Lord Krisna and were shocked to see a mosque existing right within the temple.
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Manchester, Jul 25 (PTI): The prolific Joe Root on Friday surpassed Australian legend Ricky Ponting's tally to become the second highest run-getter in the history of Test cricket and next in sight of the England batter is Indian icon Sachin Tendulkar who continues to head the list.
On the third day of the fourth Test against India here, Root first leapfrogged legendary Indian Rahul Dravid and South African great Jacques Kallis' aggregate of runs in a space of eight balls and then went past Ponting by steering the ball behind point for a single as the Old Trafford crowd gave him a standing ovation.
Ponting had scored 13378 runs in 168 matches at an average of 51.85, while Tendulkar continues to top the list with 15921 runs.
It was apt that Ponting was in the commentary box when Root went past him. The 34-year-old Root began his Test career with a 73-run knock on debut during England's tour of India back in 2012 at Nagpur.
"Congrats, Joe Root. Magnificent," a delighted Ponting, doing commentary alongside Ravi Shastri, hailed the Yorkshire man.
Root is playing in his 157th Test.
It was some sight as England skipper Ben Stokes, who was also in the middle, raised his bat even before Root could take off his helmet and acknowledged the cheers and applause from the crowd and the players
Earlier, Root entered the history books by breaking the record of most Test centuries against India with his 12th hundred against the Asian giants, against whom he has played in 34 Tests so far.
Root had equalled Australian Steve Smith's record (11 centuries) in the third India-England Test at Lord's last week by scoring a hundred (104 runs from 199 balls) in the first innings.
Overall, the ton at Old Trafford was his 38th in red ball format as he joined former Sri Lanka star Kumar Sangakkara at fourth place in the list of centurions in the game's longest format.
Tendulkar (51), Jacques Kallis (45) and Ponting (41) are ahead of him in the hundred's list.