The Allahabad High Court dismissed the appeal filed against the district court’s order allowing Hindus to conduct religious worship in the basement of south cellar of the Gyanvapi Masjid.
Background of the case
A case has been filed in the Varanasi District court stating that the Gyanvapi Masjid, adjacent to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple in Varanasi, was constructed by demolishing a Hindu temple. So, Hindus should be allowed to do puja inside the mosque.
Shailendra Kumar Pathak, who is said to be the heir of the priest of the temple inside this mosque filed a this case in the Varanasi court said that his grandfather Somnath Vyas used to perform puja to the deities in one of the 7 rooms on the ground floor of the Gyanvapi Masjid and the permission has been denied since 1993. So he requested the court to allow Hindus to offer puja inside the mosque.
In this case, Varanasi District court gave a judgment on 31 January, 2024. The judgment says that Hindus can offer puja in the basement of the southern cellar of the Gyanvapi mosque.
Court permited puja inside the Mosque
After this judgment, the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee(AIMC) challenged the district court’s order to allow the Hindus to offer puja inside the mosque in Allahabad high court. In this situation, Judge Rohit Ranjan Agarwal, who heard the case, dismissed the appeal AIMC on Monday, 26 February. The judgment stated that, “after going through all the records of the case and considering the arguments of both concerned parties the court did not find any ground to interfere in Varanasi district court’s judgment dated 31 January”. Hence the court officially allowed Hindus to perform Puja in the southern cellar of Gyanvapi mosque.
