Shringar Gauri-Gyanvapi case: Allahabad high court admits mosque committee’s plea
The Allahabad high court further directed that the photocopies of all documents related to the suit shall be sent to it by October 21.
The Allahabad high court on Wednesday admitted the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee (AIMC) plea challenging the Varanasi district court’s September 12 order that had held as maintainable the suit filed by five women seeking the right to have darshan, puja and perform all the rituals of Maa Shringar Gauri and other deities within the Gyanvapi complex.
The Allahabad high court further directed that the photocopies of all documents related to the suit shall be sent to it by October 21. The high court passed this order when senior advocate SFA Naqvi appearing for AIMC, after going through the records received from the district court, requested that the entire records of the suit were necessary for the proper adjudication of the issues involved in this case.
Justice JJ Munir fixed October 21 as the next date of hearing on the AIMC petition.
On September 12, the Varanasi district court had rejected AIMC’s application against the maintainability of the plea, which sought the right for daily worship of Hindu deities whose idols are located on an outer wall of the Gyanvapi Masjid. The Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee manages the Gyanvapi Masjid in Varanasi.
In his order, Varanasi district judge Ajay Krishna Vishvesh had observed that the suit of the plaintiffs is not barred by the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, The Waqf Act 1995, and the U.P. Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple Act, 1983 as was being claimed by AIMC.
In August 2021, five women filed the suit in a Varanasi court.