Shringar Gauri case: Allahabad HC to continue hearing on Nov 23

Anjuman Intezamia Masjid has filed a civil revision petition challenging Varanasi district court order by which it had rejected the AIM’s objection to maintainability of the suit filed by five Hindu women

The Allahabad high court will on Wednesday continue hearing a civil revision petition filed by Anjuman Intezamia Masjid (AIM), which manages the Gyanvapi mosque, challenging the Varanasi district court order by which it had rejected the AIM’s objection to maintainability of the suit filed by five Hindu women seeking permission to regularly worship Shringar Gauri and other deities whose idols are located on the outer wall of the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi.

The district judge, Varanasi, had on September 12, 2022 dismissed the AIM’s plea. (For Representation)

As per the date fixed, the hearing of the case was resumed on Tuesday. However, after a brief hearing of the counsel for the petitioner, Justice JJ Munir directed to put up the case on November 23, 2022 for further hearing.

The district judge, Varanasi, had on September 12, 2022 dismissed the AIM’s plea filed under Order 7 Rule 11 of Civil Procedure Code (CPC), challenging the maintainability of the suit filed by the five Hindu plaintiffs in August last year.

While rejecting the AIM plea, the district judge, Varanasi, had observed that the suit of the plaintiffs (five Hindu women) was not barred by the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, the Waqf Act 1995, and the UP Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple Act, 1983, as was being claimed by the AIM.

The revision petition has been filed before the high court challenging the September 12 order on the ground that the suit before the court is barred under the Places of Worship Act, 1991, which provides that no suit can be filed seeking conversion of any religious place as existed on August 15, 1947. The Places of Worship Act, 1991, bars change in the character of religious places after independence, even by means of court proceedings.