New Delhi: The Supreme Court agreed to hear the Muslim side's plea challenging Allahabad High Court's ruling, which allowed the Hindu side to perform pujas in the southern cellar of the Gyanvapi mosque complex, PTI reported.
The top court tagged the Gyanvapi committee's plea against the HC order on the maintainability of the temple restoration suit with other pending matters on the dispute.
On Monday, the Allahabad High Court allowed Hindus to offer prayers in the southern cellar of the Gyanvapi Mosque complex. It dismissed the Gyanvapi committee's plea challenging the Varanasi district court's order.
The Varanasi district court had earlier allowed the Hindus to perform pujas, and it was that the Muslim parties moved the high court.
Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal ruled that after going through the entire records and considering the arguments of the parties, the court couldn't find any ground to interfere in the Varanasi court judgement, which appointed the district magistrate as the receiver of the complex and allowed Hindus to do pujas.
It was on January 31 that the Varanasi district court made the ruling in favour of the Hindu side. The court directed the district magistrate to make arrangements for pujas and appoint a pujari (priest) nominated by Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust. After that, the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee, which manages the Gyanwapi complex, moved to the high court on February 1. The Supreme Court had refused to urgently hear the Masjid Committee's plea.
In another development, days after the Allahabad High Court's verdict, the Hindu side approached the Varanasi district court seeking an order preventing Muslims from offering Namaz at the terrace within the Gyanvapi mosque. The petition, filed by plaintiff Ram Prasad Singh, aims to halt entry into the 'Vyas Ji Ka Tehkhana,' a 500-year-old terrace located in the southern area of the complex.