New Delhi: The Allahabad High Court on Friday rejected the plea of the Masjid Intezamia Committee of Gyanvapi mosque to remain the order of the Varanasi district court docket that permitted the Hindu aspect to carry out puja within the southern cellar of the mosque. The High Court gave time to the committee until February 6 to amend its enchantment and problem the sooner order of January 17, 2024, by which the District Magistrate of Varanasi was appointed because the receiver of the Gyanvapi premises. The subsequent listening to of the case shall be on February 6.
The bench of Justice Rohit Ranjan Aggarwal noticed that the committee ought to first query the validity of the January 17 order, following which the DM took possession of the Gyanvapi premises on January 23 and allowed the Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust to conduct puja within the basement by means of a priest by an interim order dated January 31.
The committee’s lawyer, SFA Naqvi, argued that he needed to method the High Court urgently as a result of January 31 order, because the DM made preparations in a single day and began the puja inside 9 hours. He mentioned that he would additionally problem the January 17 order, which he claimed was unlawful and arbitrary.
The Hindu aspect’s lawyer, Vishnu Shankar Jain, opposed the enchantment and mentioned that it was not maintainable as the unique order of January 17 was not challenged. He mentioned that the subordinate court docket didn’t grant any aid to the plaintiff, however solely delegated the authority to the temple belief.
The committee had additionally moved the Supreme Court on Thursday morning, however the apex court docket suggested them to go to the High Court first.
Puja and aarti carried out within the cellar on Thursday
Meanwhile, following the order of the Varanasi district court docket, the Hindu aspect carried out puja and aarti within the southern cellar of the Gyanvapi mosque on Thursday morning. The court docket had directed the DM to make preparations inside seven days for the puja to be carried out by the Hindu aspect and a priest nominated by the Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust.
The court docket had handed the order on the petition of Shailendra Kumar Pathak Vyas, the top priest of Acharya Ved Vyas Peeth temple, who sought permission to worship Shringar Gauri and different seen and invisible deities within the cellar of the mosque. Vyas belongs to the household that used to carry out puja within the cellar until December 1993, when it was closed by the authorities. He claimed that his maternal grandfather, priest Somnath Vyas, was the hereditary pujari of the cellar.
The Muslim aspect’s lawyer, Akhlaq Ahmed, expressed his dissatisfaction with the order and mentioned that it ignored the Advocate Commissioner report of 2022, the ASI report, and the choice of 1937, which had been in favour of the mosque. He mentioned that the Hindu aspect didn’t produce any proof that that they had carried out puja within the cellar earlier than 1993. He additionally mentioned that there was no idol of any deity within the place.
The Gyanvapi mosque has 4 cellars within the basement, out of which one continues to be within the possession of the Vyas household, who used to reside there. The ASI survey, ordered by the identical court docket in a associated case, indicated that the mosque was constructed throughout Aurangzeb’s reign over the ruins of a Hindu temple.
