Gyanvapi: Hindu “puja” will go on at “Vyas Tehkhana,” but the Muslim side’s appeal is rejected by the court

PRAYAGRAJ: The Muslim side’s appeal against the Varanasi district court’s ruling was rejected by the Allahabad high court on Monday, allowing Hinuds to continue praying within Gyanvapi’s “Vyas Tehkhana.”

The Gyanvapi management committee, Anjuman Intezamia Masajid (AIM), has contested the January 17, 2024, ruling designating Varanasi district magistrate (DM) as the receiver (caretaker) of the mosque’s southern basement, often referred to as “Vyasji ka Tahkhana.”

On January 31, the Varanasi district court judge permitted puja within the basement based on the judgment dated January 17.
“No justification to meddle”
Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal upheld the district judge AK Vishvesha’s orders on Monday, stating: “The court did not find any ground to interfere in the judgment passed by the district judge dated Jan 17, 2024 appointing DM, Varanasi, as receiver of the property as well as order dated Jan 31, 2024 by which the district court had permitted Puja in the tehkhana (cellar) after going through the entire records of the case and after considering arguments of the parties concerned.”
“The Muslim side could go to the Supreme Court.”
The advocate for the Hindu side, Vishnu Shankar Jain, stated: “Today, the Allahabad HC has dismissed the first appeal from Anjuman Intezamia which was directed against the order of January 17 and 31 and the effect of the order is that the ongoing puja in the ‘Vyas Tehkhana’ of Gyanvapi complex.” This was in contrast to AIM joint secretary SM Yaseen, who stated that they were reviewing the order and would be approaching the Supreme Court. We will present our caveat to the Supreme Court in the event that the Anjuman Intezamia is heard there.
District court ruling on Vyas Tehkhana in Varanasi
On September 25, 2023, the Varanasi district court issued a ruling in response to a request submitted by Shailendra Kumar Pathak Vyas, the acharya of the Ved Vyas Peeth temple. In the mosque’s basement, Shailendra Vyas had sought devotion of Shringar Gauri and other visible and unseen deities. The scion of the family that did puja in this basement till December 1993 is Vyas.
In his application, Shailendra Vyas said that his maternal grandfather, the priest Somnath Vyas, used to worship in the basement until 1993, when the Mulayam Singh Yadav administration ordered its closure without a judge’s approval. The request further asked that the cellar be given to the district magistrate (DM) or any other qualified individual.
The district court designated the DM as the receiver in an order dated January 17, 2024, and on January 23 the DM assumed control of the Gyanvapi mosque’s southern basement. The court approved puja in the basement on January 31.
Lawyer for the Hindu side Vishu Shankar Jain said that the Vyas family had a southern cellar for ages and prayed to gods.
Jain said that this point had been made in the lawsuit. “But, in December 1993, the then-Mullayam Singh Yadav government covered it with a steel fence without any judicial order, stopping the puja,” Jain added.
“The Shringar Guari case”
Five female plaintiffs had already filed a civil lawsuit in August 2021, before to Shailendra Vyas’s petition, asking to worship Shirngar Guari and other visible and unseen deities inside the Gyanvapi complex.
A’shivling’ was allegedly discovered in the complex’s wuzu pond during the court-monitored survey that the Hindu side requested the civil court to order. The AIM contested the survey at the highest court.
On May 20, 2022, the Supreme Court handed the case over to the district court and ordered the pond area to be sealed. ‘Suit no. 18/2022 Rakhi Singh and others versus UP state and others’ is the new name for the lawsuit. Suit No. 18/2022 was combined with seven other cases that had comparable demand.
On July 21, 2023, the district court issued an order for the Archaeological inspect of India (ASI) to inspect the Gyanvapi complex based on the same appeal.
The Hindu side asserts, using the ASI study that was given to both parties on January 25, 2025, that the Gyanvapi mosque was built after the destruction of a large temple.
Laxmi Devi, Sita Sahu, Manju Vyas, and Rekha Pathak, four of the five female plaintiffs in suit number. 18/2022, were also present in the courtroom. They said that their request to offer prayers to Shringar Gauri and other deities would also be granted, even as they showed excitement and their followers celebrated.
Timetable
September 25, 2023 | Shailendra Kumar Pathak ‘Vyas’ files a suit before the civil judge senior division, requesting sanctuary in one of the Gyanvapi mosque’s cellars for the worship of Shringar Gauri and other visible and invisible deities. He also names the DM or another appropriate individual as the recipient of the cellar located on the southern side of the building.
The matter is transferred to the district judge’s court on October 19, 2023. rejects AIM and KVT Trust applications that contest the transfer application’s maintainability.
Jan. 17, 2024 | The district judge names Varanasi DM to be the recipient of the Gyanvapi mosque’s southern cellar.
January 23, 2024 | DM acquires ownership of the southern cellar
January 31, 2024 | The district court permits a priest appointed by the KVT Trust to worship in the southern basement.
Feb. 26, 2024: The district court ruling is upheld by the Allahabad High Court.