The Supreme Court would on January 15 hear a plea of the mosque management committee against an order rejecting its petition in the Shahi Eidgah- Krishna Janmabhoomi dispute in Mathura, UP.

A single judge bench of the Allahabad High Court on August 1, last year, rejected the plea of the Committee of Management, Trust Shahi Masjid Eidgah, challenging the maintainability of 15 cases related to the temple-mosque dispute in Mathura, and ruled the “religious character” of Shahi Eidgah needed to be determined.

A bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar, on December 9, last year commenced the final hearing in the case and the matter is set to come up before the bench on January 15, according to the SC website.

One of the Hindu parties, represented by advocate Barun Sinha, had argued the mosque committee could have moved the Allahabad High Court against the single judge’s order over the dispute.

He said the plea of the mosque committee was not maintainable in the top court at the present stage.

The lawyer referred to the Allahabad High Court rules and argued, “In view of Chapter 8 of the Allahabad High Court Rules, a special appeal before the division bench of the high court would be maintainable.”

He said an appeal in the Supreme Court was not “maintainable against the order of a single judge bench of the high court” and an intra-court appeal in the high court should have been filed. The lawyer therefore sought the plea to be dismissed.

On November 29, last year, the CJI-led bench agreed to hear the plea.

“This we will hear at length. We will take it up on December 9, at 2 pm… We have to decide what is the legal position,” the CJI said.

Speaking for the bench, the CJI prima facie felt that an intra-court appeal would lie against the single judge bench’s August 1 order of the high court.

“We will certainly give you an opportunity to argue,” the bench said.

The mosque committee said the suits filed by Hindu litigants over the dispute over the Krishna Janmabhoomi temple, and the adjoining mosque, violated the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, and were therefore not maintainable.

The 1991 Act prohibits changing the religious character of any shrine from what existed on the day of the country’s Independence. The Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi dispute was however kept outside it purview.

The cases filed by the Hindu party side seek the “removal” of the Aurangzeb-era mosque, claiming it was built after the demolition a temple that once stood there.

The high court said the 1991 Act did not define the term “religious character” and the “disputed” place couldn’t have a dual religious character — of a temple and a mosque, which are “adverse to each other” — at the same time.

“Either the place is a temple or a mosque. Thus, I find that the religious character of the disputed place as it existed on August 15, 1947, is to be determined by documentary as well as oral evidence led by both the parties,” the high court said.

The high court concluded the cases did “not appear to be barred by any provisions of the Wakf Act, 1995, the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, the Specific Relief Act, 1963, the Limitation Act, 1963 and Order XIII Rule 3A of the Code of Civil Procedure Code, 1908”.

Hindu side’s advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain had said his client would move the Supreme Court for vacating its stay on a previous Allahabad High Court order allowing the mosque’s survey.

The mosque management committee and the UP Sunni Central Waqf Board argued the suits were barred under Places of Worship Act and other laws.

On May 31, 2024, the Allahabad High Court reserved its judgment on the maintainability plea after hearing both sides.

But the court reopened the hearing at the request of Shahi Eidgah counsel Mehmood Pracha.

The Mathura dispute mirrors the legal tussle in Varanasi, where the Gyanvapi mosque and the Kashi Vishwanath temple are located next to each other.

Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking has revealed that 834 accidents involving its buses have occurred in the last five years, resulting in the loss of 88 lives. In addition to the fatalities, many others were injured in these incidents, prompting the administration to pay a total of Rs 42.40 crores as financial compensation to the victims and their families.

This information was disclosed in response to an RTI query filed by activist Anil Galgali. Anil Galgali had asked the BEST administration about accidents, loss of life and financial compensation in the last 5 years. Egal Benjamin, Senior Transport Officer of BEST, gave detailed information about the last 5 years to Anil Galgali.

In the last 5 years, there have been 834 BEST bus accidents involving BEST and private contractors. BEST had 352 accidents with 51 fatalities while private contractors had 37 fatalities out of 482 accidents. The year 2022-23 and the year 2023-24 recorded the highest 21 deaths each.

Rs 42.40 crores financial compensation was given to the dead and injured in the last 5 years and there were 494 cases. The highest amount was given in the year 2022-23.

In 107 cases that year, the highest monetary Compensation amount was 12.40 crores. Compensation amount was 9.55 crore in the year 2019-20, 3.44 crore in the year 2020-21, 9.45 crore in the year 2021-22, 7.54 crore in the year 2023-24.

In the last 5 years the number of dismissals of employees in fatal accidents is 12 and 2 employees were dismissed in personal injury cases. 24 employees have been suspended in personal injury cases. In other actions, warning, understanding, strong warning, recovery, reduction in dual category have been done.

These statistics highlight the safety responsibility of the BEST administration. Anil Galgali says that this shows the need to take more precautions from the administration and employees.

Ramallah, Jan 13: The Palestinian presidency has urged the international community to step up efforts to end the bloody conflict in Gaza, accusing Israel of massive “killings, destruction, and displacement”.

Under President Mahmoud Abbas’s leadership, the Palestinian Authority has been working since day one to end the conflict and spare Palestinians from the devastation, Presidential spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh said in a statement to news agency.

The Israeli offensive has caused the death, injury, detention and disappearance of over 200,000 people, Abu Rudeineh said.

President Abbas is engaging in intensive talks with Arab and international parties to expedite a ceasefire and enforce UN Security Council Resolution 2735, the spokesperson said.

The Palestinian leadership believes it is time to compel the occupying state to accept an end to its comprehensive conflict against people in Gaza as well as to halt ongoing Israeli violations in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, he said.

The presidential spokesperson stressed that achieving security and stability in the region depends on respecting “Arab and international legitimacy,” urging major countries to act immediately to enforce compliance with UN resolutions and end what he called Israel’s “impunity.”

The new round of Palestinian-Israeli conflict broke out on October 7, 2023 following an unprecedented escalation between the Israeli army and Hamas, leading to full-scale confrontations. The conflict has caused widespread destruction in the Gaza Strip and resulted in an unprecedented civilian death toll.

On Monday, Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said that “progress” has been achieved in the talks held in Qatar on a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas that will secure the release of the hostages.

“There is progress in the negotiations to release the hostages,” Sa’ar said during joint remarks alongside Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen, who is on a trip to the region.

“Israel very much wants to release the hostages and is working hard to reach a deal,” Sa’ar said.