Judgement on Appeal Against Varanasi Court Order Permitting Puja At Gyanvapi Cellar To Be Announced Today by Allahabad High Court

The Varanasi court’s judgment permitting the Hindu side to say prayers in a crypt within the Gyanvapi Mosque will be challenged, and today the Allahabad High Court will rule on that case. The Varanasi district court granted permission for the Hindu side to worship in “Vyas Ka Tehkhana,” the mosque complex’s southern basement, on January 31.

The Muslim side petitioned the High Court to overturn the court ruling in Varanasi.

The Varanasi court permitted the Kashi Vishwanath temple trust to appoint a “pujari” to lead regular worship, and the petitioner, who said that his grandpa performed puja before the idols in the basement until December 1993, was granted permission to do so.

According to Hindu tradition, the Vyas family had pujas in the basement up until 1993. But it ceased when the state government issued an order. Four Hindu ladies petitioned the Supreme Court last year to have a sealed portion of the mosque excavated and scientifically surveyed, and as a result, the basement was cleaned during the archaeological study.

The Allahabad High Court had said that the ASI report on Gyanvapi was “worth considering” hours before the court issued its ruling permitting the Hindu side to say prayers at Gyanvapi. In this context, the Anjuman Intezamia Masajid Committee was also issued with a notice.

“There existed a Hindu temple before the construction of the existing structure” at the Gyanvapi mosque complex, according to the survey study that was turned in last month.