The Allahabad High Court on Thursday ordered the consolidation of 15 suits related to a dispute about the Shahi Idgah Masjid in Mathura, Live Law reported on Friday.

The petitioners have demanded the removal of the mosque from a 13.37-acre complex that it shares with the Katra Keshav Dev temple. They have claimed that the land is the birthplace of Hindu deity Krishna.

Justice Mayank Jain ordered that the 15 suits be heard together in the interest of justice. “The proceedings in these suits can be...decided simultaneously on the basis of common evidence,” the judge said.

The counsel representing the Shahi Idgah Masjid and the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board did not object to the suits being consolidated.

The Allahabad High Court on December 14 allowed a petition demanding that a commission be appointed to inspect the Shahi Idgah mosque premises. This has not yet happened as the defendants approached the Supreme Court thereafter.

The first suit in the matter was filed before the Civil Judge (Senior Division), Mathura on September 25, 2020. There are a total of 18 related suits pending before the Allahabad High Court.

The court will hear the matter next on January 17.