Puja To Continue In Gyanvapi Complex As Allahabad HC Dismisses Mosque Committee's Plea Challenging Varanasi Court Order

Allahabad High Court on Monday (26 February) dismissed a plea challenging the order of the Varanasi district court that permitted Hindu parties to offer puja in the 'vyas tehkhana' of the Gyanvapi complex.

Earlier this month, the Allahabad High Court refused to grant an interim stay on the Varanasi court's 31 January order. The mosque committee had moved the Supreme Court but was asked to approach the High Court.

Explaining the development, Advocate Prabhash Pandey said, "It means that the puja will continue as it is. District Magistrate will continue as the Receiver of the 'tehkhana'... This is a big victory for our Sanatana Dharma."

Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal of the Allahabad High Court pronounced the judgment and he "did not find any ground to interfere in the judgment passed by the district judge".

The mosque committee can move the Supreme Court against this order. Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, representing the Hindu side, expressed his readiness to file a caveat if the mosque committee does so.

The Gyanvapi structure has four 'tehkhanas' (cellars) in the basement out of which one is still in possession of the Vyas family who used to live there. They have resumed pujas after the Varanasi court order.

Till November 1993, puja used to be conducted in the basement. However, the then-state government stopped the worship and prayers in December 1993, and also removed the priests who conducted the puja there.