Gyanvapi Case: Petition challenging order allowing worship in Vyas basement dismissed.
Allahabad High Court
dismissed a plea challenging the order allowing Hindu parties to perform puja in the Vyas basement of the Gyanwapi Complex. The Allahabad High Court has rejected a plea by the Muslim side seeking a ban on permission to worship in Vyasji’s basement at Gyanvapi in Varanasi. A single bench headed by Justice Rohit Ranjan Aggarwal decided that the worship will continue in Vyasji basement. In this case, the Muslim party had challenged the order of the Varanasi District Court in the High Court.
Allahabad High Court dismisses plea challenging order permitting Hindu parties to offer puja in the ‘vyas tehkhana’ of Gyanvapi complex. pic.twitter.com/DbkADHQAIC
— ANI (@ANI) February 26, 2024
On January 31, the district court of Varanasi had allowed Hindus to worship in the Vyas basement of Gyanvapi, after which the order of the Varanasi court was challenged by the Anjuman Syasm Masjid Committee.
Vyasji Basement: A History of Worship
• Worshiped in basement till 1993: Vyas family claims
• The then government performed puja in the Rukwai basement.
• The basement has not been worshiped for 31 years
• Shatananda Vyas worshiped in 1551: Vyas family claim
• September 2023: Shailendrapathak Vyas filed a petition in court
• Petition regarding right to worship in Vyasji’s basement
• The petition has demanded that the basement be handed over to the DM
• January 17: The district administration took control of the basement.
• January 31: The district court allowed worship in the basement.
• The Muslim party filed a petition in the Allahabad High Court
• This decision was challenged by the Muslim party in the High Court
The Varanasi District Court had on January 31 ruled that the priest could perform puja in the southern basement of the Gyanvapi Masjid. The Varanasi District Court passed this order on the petition of Shailendra Kumar Pathak, whose grandfather Somnath Vyas had worshiped till December 1993. Pathak, as a hereditary priest, had requested that he be allowed to enter the basement and resume worship. The mosque has four ‘basements’ (basements) and one of them is still owned by the Vyas family.
This claim was rejected by the mosque committee
The order of the Varanasi district court came a day after the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) report on the mosque complex was made public. An ASI survey ordered by the same court in connection with the case had suggested that the mosque was built on the ruins of a Hindu temple during the reign of Aurangzeb. The Masjid Committee rejected the contention of the petitioner. The committee said there was no idol in the basement, so there was no question of praying there till 1993.
The committee had moved to the High Court on February 2, hours after the Supreme Court refused to hear its plea against the Varanasi District Court order and asked it to move to the High Court. On February 15, the Allahabad High Court reserved its verdict after hearing both sides.
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