Today (1st April) The Supreme Court is set to hear a plea challenging the verdict of the Allahabad High Court in the Gyanvapi Mosque case. The matter followed after the disputed site in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, where the Gyanvapi Mosque and the Kashi Vishwanath Temple stand in close proximity. The plea seeks to contest the ruling of the Allahabad High Court regarding the ownership and status of the land.
NEW DELHI: Today (1st April): The Supreme Court is set to hear a plea from the Gyanvapi mosque management committee , challenging an Allahabad High Court ruling that allowed Hindu prayers in the mosque’s southern cellar. The committee, responsible for the management of the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi, filed the petition against the High Court’s judgment.
BACKGROUND
The Gyanvapi mosque management committee has approached the Supreme Court to challenge a ruling by the Allahabad High Court, which permitted Hindu prayers in the southern cellar of the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi. The committee, known as the Anjuman Intezamia Masajid Committee, filed the plea in response to the High Court’s decision on February 26.
The High Court dismissed the committee’s plea contesting a district court order from January 31 that allowed Hindu worship in the mosque’s cellar. In its ruling, the High Court declared the Uttar Pradesh government’s 1993 ban on worship rituals inside the “Vyas Tehkhana” as illegal. It also rejected the mosque management committee’s appeals against a Varanasi district judge’s orders appointing the District Magistrate as the receiver of the “Vyas Tehkhana” and allowing puja (worship) to be performed there.
The High Court further ordered the continuation of worship activities in the “Vyas Tehkhana,” which is situated adjacent to the Kashi Vishwanath temple.
According to a survey conducted by the Archaeological Survey of India, the Gyanvapi mosque was constructed during the reign of Mughal emperor Aurangzeb on the remains of a Hindu temple.
Currently, the Hindu prayers in the mosque’s southern cellar are being led by a priest appointed by the Kashi Vishwanath temple trust, along with petitioner Shailendra Kumar Pathak. Pathak’s maternal grandfather, Somnath Vyas, had also performed prayers in the cellar until December 1993.
Pathak claimed that worship was halted during the tenure of former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav after the demolition of the Babri Masjid in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.
During the trial court proceedings, the Muslim side disputed the petitioner’s account, denying the existence of idols in the cellar and challenging the petitioner’s claim of control over the basement during British rule.
READ ALSO: Gyanvapi Case: Hindu Petition Seeks Entry Restriction to Cellar’s Terrace
The Supreme Court’s hearing of the Gyanvapi mosque management committee’s plea will provide an opportunity for a thorough examination of the arguments from both sides.
READ PREVIOUS REPORTS ON GYANVAPI MOSQUE CASE
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