JOIN USGyanvapi case: Hindus' plea for right to pray admitted
In a significant ruling which may result in another lengthy legal battle, a Varanasi district court on Monday ruled that the petition filed by five women seeking permission for daily worship at the Shringar Gauri Shrine, allegedly situated inside the Gyanvapi Mosque premises, was 'maintainable'.
District judge Ajay Krishna Vishwesh, who had on August 24 reserved its ruling on the petition, rejected the objections filed by the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee and posted the matter for further hearing on September 22. The lawyer for the Committee said that the ruling would be challenged in the higher court.
One of the lawyers for the Hindu petitioners Vishnu Shankar Jain said that the court rejected the arguments of the Committee lawyers that the petition by the women was barred by the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act 1991.
"The judgement has far reaching consequences....now the report of the Court appointed Commission which conducted a videography survey inside the complex will be read by the court," Jain said. The court had earlier ordered videography and survey inside the mosque premises on the petition and the report of the survey had already been submitted to the district court.
Hindu lawyers had earlier claimed that a Shivling was found at a small pond after which the court had ordered sealing of the place. The lawyers representing the Muslims, however, refuted the claim and said that what was being called a Shivling was in fact a fountain.
The court said that the petitioners had only sought the right to worship at the temple and not to convert the mosque into a temple. It said that the deities were being worshipped regularly till 1993 and after that, once in a year.
The Hindu petitioners hailed the ruling saying that it was a "historic day". "The entire country is happy....every Hindu should light earthen lamps and chant Har Har Mahadev," said Manju Vyas, one of the petitioners, who had filed the petition in August 2021.
Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya also hailed the ruling and sought to rake up the Shri Krishna Janmabhoomi-Shahi Idgah Mosque issue.
The premises had been a bone of contention between the two communities for the past several decades but there was renewed clamor to "take back" the Kashi Vishwanath Temple premises by the saffron outfits after the favourable decision of the apex court in the Ram Temple case.
The Hindu petitioners contended that a part of the temple had been demolished by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in the 17th century. The Muslim side contended that the Mosque existed before the reign of Aurangzeb and also claimed that the same had also been mentioned in the land records.