Gyanvapi Mosque Case: On Monday, the Allahabad High Court denied a plea that contested a ruling permitting Hindus to perform puja in the southern crypt of the Gyanvapi complex in Varanasi.
Legal Challenge Unveiled
The Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee filed a lawsuit challenging a court judgement allowing Hindus to worship at the ‘Vyas Ji Ka Tehkhana,’ situated in the southern part of the Gyanvapi mosque complex. The plea was considered by a single bench of Justice Rohit Ranjan Aggarwal.
Mosque Complex Built on Ancient Hindu Temple Ruins
Following the release of an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) study on the mosque complex, the Varanasi district court issued an order. According to the ASI survey, which the same court ordered in relation to a related case, the mosque was built on the ruins of a Hindu temple during Aurangzeb’s reign.
Petitioner’s Claims Disputed
The petitioner’s version had been denied by the mosque committee. The committee stated that since there were no idols in the cellar, prayers could not be said there until 1993. Within hours after the Supreme Court declining to hear the committee’s appeal against the Varanasi district court judgement and requesting that it go to the high court, the committee headed to the high court on February 2.
