New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to halt Hindu prayers at Vyas Tehkhana in the Gyanvapi Mosque complex.
The bench, however, said that Muslims can enter the mosque unhindered from the northern side to offer namaz while priests of the Kashi Vishwanath temple trust would take southern entry to perform puja in the cellar, News 18 reported.
Bearing in mind the fact that the Muslim community offers ‘namaz’ in Gyanvapi mosque unhindered after the orders dated January 17 and January 31 (allowing puja inside Tehkhana) and the offering of ‘puja’ by Hindu priest is confined to the area of ‘Tehkhana’, it is appropriate to maintain status-quo to enable both the communities to offer worships in the above terms, the top court bench said.
The Supreme Court has fixed the plea of the Gyanvapi mosque committee against nod for Hindu puja in the southern cellar of the mosque for final disposal in July.
Notably, the Gyanvapi Mosque management committee had pleaded against an Allahabad High Court decision upholding a lower court’s order allowing Hindu prayers in the southern cellar of the mosque. The petition was filed by Anjuman Intezamia Masajid Committee, challenging the HC’s February 26 decision. The committee manages the affairs of the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi.
The committee had contested the district court’s January 31 ruling permitting Hindus to offer prayers in the cellar. However, the high court had rejected the committee’s argument. Dismissing the plea on February 26, the high court had observed that the Uttar Pradesh government’s 1993 decision was “illegal”. The state government had ordered to stop the worship rituals inside the “Vyas Tehkhana” located at the southern cellar of the Gyanvapi Mosque.
