Muslim parties challenge Varanasi court's ruling on Shringar Gauri worship in High Court

The Anjuman-e-Intezamia Committee, which looks after Gyanvapi Mosque has filed an appeal in Allahabad High Court challenging the Varanasi court ruling that the petition seeking permission for daily worship at Shringar Gauri Shrine, allegedly situated inside the Kashi Vishwanath-Gyanvapi Mosque premises, was 'maintainable'.

The Committee has also challenged the Varanasi court's decision to reject the objections filed by the Muslim parties against the petition seeking daily worship at the Shringar Gauri shrine.

In its petition, the Committee has also sought stay on the proceedings in the district court until its appeal was decided by the HC.

Also Read | Varanasi court rejects Hindus' plea for carbon dating of 'Shivling' inside Gyanvapi mosque

It has asserted in its petition that the Varanasi court erred in rejecting its contention that the petition filed by five Hindu women seeking daily worship at the Shrinag Gauri shrine was barred by the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act 1991.

According to the Committee office bearers, the petition is likely to come up for hearing in the high court next week.

The district court had said that the petitioners had only sought the right to worship at the temple and not to convert the mosque into a temple. It added that the deities were being worshipped incessantly till 1993 and after that once in a year.

The Committee filed the petition in the HC a day after a Varanasi court rejected the plea of four Hindu women seeking carbon dating of the 'shivling' which was allegedly found within the Gyanvapi Mosque premises during a videography survey conducted a few months back.

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.