The All India Hindu Mahasabha has moved an application in a Mathura court seeking that its representatives be allowed to be present at the Shahi Idgah when it is surveyed by the revenue department over claims of land ownership by the Hindu side.

Dinesh Sharma, treasurer of the Mahasabha, told reporters on Thursday: “We want to be physically present at the Shahi Idgah when the Ameen (land surveyor) conducts a survey there. We are sure there will be representatives from the Muslim side. Obviously, members of the other side should also be there to ensure impartiality and transparency.”

While hearing a petition filed by the Hindu Sena, a fast-track court of a civil judge senior division had asked the Uttar Pradesh government on Wednesday to depute an Ameen to survey the area of the Shahi Idgah and submit a report on April 17. Another local court had given a similar order on December 8, 2022, but the Shahi Masjid Idgah Committee had objected to a survey. The fast-track court upheld the survey order of the lower court.

Vishnu Gupta, the president of the Hindu Sena, and Surjit Singh, its vice-president, have stated in court that the Shahi Idgah, which is located beside the Krishna Janmasthan temple, should be shifted from there as it was built during Aurangzeb’s time by demolishing a part of the Hindu shrine in 1669-70. The Hindu Sena had also claimed that while the Shahi Masjid Idgah Committee and the Sri Krishna Janmasthan Sewa Sangh had entered into an agreement in 1968 to coexist, the Sangh was not authorised to make any such promise.

The Hindu Mahasabha is also a petitioner in the case.

Shailendra Dubey, counsel for the Hindu Sena, said: “We have already completed all the procedures of the court and submitted our studies to the court and the Ameen. The survey is in the interest of all the petitions and respondents in the case. We will be able to know how much land was there before Aurangzeb’s rule and how much was grabbed for the mosque. We want this dispute to be settled once and for all.”