On September 15, the Allahabad High Court directed the head of the Banke Bihari Temple in Mathura to correct the land records that mention the temple as Qabristan. The court asked the head to get it renamed after Banke Bihari Ji Temple.
The order was issued by a single bench of Justice Saurabh Srivastava in response to a plea moved by Shri Bihari ji Sewa Trust, Mathura. The trust argued that the ownership of the temple land was changed in the year 2004 and so was the name. Since then, the temple on the land record is missing and in its place a graveyard is mentioned.
On August 11, 2023, the Allahabad High Court asked the Chhata tehsildar of Mathura district in Uttar Pradesh to provide an explanation on how the ownership of the Banke Bihari Ji Maharaj temple land was altered in revenue records in 2004 in the name of a Qabristan, or Muslim graveyard.
Notably, the writ petition filed by Shri Bihari ji Sewa Trust, asking the court to get the mistake rectified.
According to the Shri Bihari Ji Seva Trust, Plot number 1081 was recorded in the name of Banke Bihari Maharaj from ancient times. Bhola Khan Pathan, in collusion with revenue officials, had the said site registered as a graveyard in 2004.
Also, after receiving the information, the temple trust objected and reached court. When the issue was brought up with the Waqf Board, a seven-member committee looked into it and found that the graveyard had been registered incorrectly. Bihari ji’s name, despite this, was not noted on the property. A petition was subsequently submitted.
