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BREAKING | Gyanvapi : Allahabad High Court Dismisses Plea Challenging Varanasi Court's Order Allowing 'Puja' In 'Vyas Tehkhana'
LIVELAW NEWS NETWORK
26 Feb 2024 4:40 AM GMT
The Allahabad High Court today DISMISSED the Gyanvapi Mosque committee's appeal challenging the Varanasi Court's January 31 order allowing 'Puja' In 'Vyas Tehkhana' (southern cellar of Gyanvapi Mosque). With this, the order of the District Judge has effectively been upheld. A bench of Justice Rohit Ranjan Agrawal pronounced the verdict today 11 days after reserving the judgment after hearing...
The Allahabad High Court today DISMISSED the Gyanvapi Mosque committee's appeal challenging the Varanasi Court's January 31 order allowing 'Puja' In 'Vyas Tehkhana' (southern cellar of Gyanvapi Mosque). With this, the order of the District Judge has effectively been upheld.
A bench of Justice Rohit Ranjan Agrawal pronounced the verdict today 11 days after reserving the judgment after hearing both parties (read details of hearings here, here and here).
The appeal before the HC was filed by the Anjuman Intezamia Mosque Committee (which manages Gyanvapi Mosque in Varanasi) on February 1, soon after the Supreme Court refused to urgently hear the Mosque Committee's plea against the order allowing puja in Vyas Ji ka Tehkhana.
It was the stand of the Committee that the Vyas Tehkhana was under their possession as being a part of the Mosque premises and that the Vyas family or anyone else do not have any right to worship inside the Tehkhana.
The Mosque committee also maintained that it was an admitted fact that since 1993 there has been no puja in tehkhana and hence, if after 30 years, the Court was appointing a receiver and changing the status quo, there should have been some cogent reason behind the decision. It was also submitted that the Hindu Plaintiff was never in possession of the Vyas Tehkhana, and the question about the possession can only be decided after framing of issues.
On the other hand, the counsels for the Hindu plaintiff, Advocate Hari Shankar Jain and Vishnu Shankar Jain had supported the January 31st order of the Varanasi District Judge by stating that their first prayer (for appointment of a receiver) was allowed on 17th Jan, however, due to some omission, the second prayer (for the performance of prayers inside Vyas Tehkhana) was not allowed, so when they requested the District Judge to allow the second prayer too, he allowed the same on January 31st by invoking [powers under Section 152 CrPC.
It has been the consistent stand of the Hindu parties that the Hindu 'Puja-Path' never stopped inside the Tehkhana and the same continued even after 1993 when the CRPF took possession of the same.
For context, the entire dispute relates to 'Somnath Vyas' tehkhana inside Gyanvapi Mosque premises. Until 1993, the Vyas family allegedly conducted religious ceremonies in the basement. However, in compliance with a directive from the state government, the religious practices were discontinued.
On 31st January, the District Judge paved the way for the worshipping of Hindu deities inside the Vyas Tehkhana by allowing an application in the suit filed by Plaintiff Shailendra Kumar Pathak Vyas seeking worship of Shringar Gauri and other visible and invisible deities in the cellar of Gyanvapi mosque and for the appointment of the district magistrate as the receiver of the cellar in the southern side of Mosque (aka Vyas Ji ka Tehkhana).
The operative part of the 31st January order reads thus:
"District Magistrate, Varanasi / receiver is directed to get puja, raga-blog performed of idols located in the southern cellar of #GyanvapiMosque (suit property), through a priest nominated by Kashi Vishwanath Trust Board & plaintiff. For this purpose, make proper arrangements of iron fencing etc. in 7 days"
Pursuant to the Court's order, Varanasi District Magistrate MS Rajalingam, along with other government officials, entered the mosque complex through gate number 4 of the Kashi Corridor and the officials on January 31, spent around two hours inside the complex and while leaving the premises, the DM told the media present outside that the court order had been complied with.
The Varanasi District administration had earlier taken over the possession of the southern cellar within the Gyanvapi mosque complex on January 24, 2023, after the District Judge made the DM a receiver of the property on January 17.
Challenging that order, the Mosque committee had moved to the High Court.
Case citation: 2024 LiveLaw (AB) 117
