The Allahabad High Court on Thursday ruled that the trial in 18 cases relating to the Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah dispute in Mathura can continue, dismissing a petition filed by the mosque committee that challenged the maintainability of these suits.

Justice Mayank Kumar Jain had on June 6 reserved his judgment on the plea moved by the Muslim side on maintainability of the suits. The court has now fixed August 12 as the date for framing of issues.

The suits filed by Hindu litigants seek "removal" of the Shahi Idgah mosque adjacent to the Krishna Janmabhoomi temple.

The petitions claim that the Aurangazeb-era mosque was built after the demolition of a temple that marked the spot where Lord Krishna was born.

But the mosque management committee and the UP Sunni Central Waqf Board argued that the suits were barred under Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991 that prohibits changing the status of any place of worship from what it was on the day of the country's Independence.

Hindu side counsel Vishnu Shankar Jain told reporters that with the dismissal of the plea challenging maintainability, the high court will continue to hear all the cases.

He said the Hindu side will next move the Supreme Court asking it to vacate its stay on an earlier Allahabad High Court order that had allowed a survey of the mosque.

“We will also file a caveat regarding today's order in the Supreme Court," Jain said.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.