Gyanvapi Case: Hearing on petition against puja in Gyanvapi completed, Allahabad HC Court reserves order
Feb 15, 2024
Prayagraj (Uttar Pradesh) [India], February 15 : The Allahabad High Court has completed the hearing and reserved its order in an appeal moved by the Anjuman Intezamia Masajid Committee challenging the Varanasi District Court order that allowed the Hindu side to offer prayers in the southern cellar of Gyanvapi mosque.
The single bench of Justice Rohit Ranjan Aggarwal has called both the parties at 4 pm on Thursday in its chamber and it is being speculated that the court will pronounce the verdict.
Senior advocates, SFA Naqvi and Puneet Gupta, representing Anjuman Intezamia Masajid Committee argued that "giving final relief through an interim order without determining the rights in the civil suit filed demanding the right to worship is a violation of the legal procedure."
"Moreover, the District Judge himself has given two contradictory orders. It also said that in the exercise of the power inherent in Section 152 of the Code of Civil Procedure, the court cannot order a change in the nature of the original order," argued the advocates.
Senior Supreme Court advocates CS Vaidyanathan and Vishnu Shankar Jain appeared on behalf of the Hindu side.
On behalf of Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust, CS Vaidyanathan argued through video conferencing. He presented arguments for about 40 minutes and said that the basement is situated on the right side of Gyanvapi.
"Where Hindus were worshipping till the year 1993. Under Order 40 Rule 1 CPC, Varanasi Court appointed DM as the receiver, so this decision does not affect the rights of Muslims in any way," argued CS Vaidyanathan
"Because a Muslim never offered namaz in the basement and when the court-appointed Varanasi DM as the receiver, he complied with the court's order," argued Vaidyanathan further.
On January 31, the Varanasi district court allowed the Hindu side to offer prayers in the southern cellar of Gyanvapi mosque. The court directed the Varanasi district magistrate to make arrangements within seven days for 'puja' to be performed by the Hindu side and a pujari (priest) nominated by Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust. After the order of the court, "puja" and "aarti" were performed in the early hours on Thursday.
