No stay on Puja, High Court gives time to Gyanvapi mosque to amend appeal

The Allahabad High Court has declined to grant an interim stay on the performance of Puja within the southern cellar of the historic Gyanvapi Mosque, also known as Vyas Tehkhana. The Court has given the Mosque Committee until February 6 to revise its appeal, during which time the Advocate General has been instructed to ensure the maintenance of law and order in the vicinity.

The Court's decision came in response to a plea filed by the Gyanvapi Mosque committee seeking to halt the worship rituals taking place in the disputed area.

The controversy surrounding the Puja inside the Tehkhana erupted after a directive issued by the Varanasi District Judge on January 31st, allowing Hindus to conduct worshipping rituals in the sealed cellar. The District Judge's order instructed the District Administration to make necessary arrangements within seven days for the resumption of religious ceremonies on the premises.

Despite the Mosque Committee's appeal challenging the Varanasi District Court's decision, the Allahabad High Court, presided over by Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal, refused to grant interim relief to the Committee. Justice Agarwal emphasized that the Mosque Committee had not contested the District Judge's earlier order appointing the District Magistrate as a receiver on January 17th.

The Court has provided the Mosque Committee time until February 6th to amend its appeal. In the interim, the Advocate General has been directed to ensure the maintenance of law and order in the vicinity of the Gyanvapi Mosque.

This legal development comes in the wake of the Supreme Court's recent refusal to expedite a hearing on the Mosque Committee's plea against the Varanasi District Court's decision to permit Puja in the disputed area of Vyas Tehkhana.

During the High Court hearing, senior advocates representing the mosque committee argued that the Hindu side was demanding one of the four cellars, including the Vyas Ka Tekhana (cellar), located in the basement, for worship. They highlighted that the Muslim side had filed an application challenging the Hindu side's claims on January 17 when a District Magistrate was appointed as a "receiver" for that portion of the mosque.

In response, Advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain, representing the Hindu side, opposed the mosque committee's petition, emphasizing that they had not challenged the January 17 order and, more significantly, had not contested the order on January 31 that permitted puja in the sealed basement of the Gyanvapi mosque.

The High Court, in its ruling, underscored that the mosque committee failed to challenge the earlier orders and did not intervene to stop the district court's decision to allow puja within the Gyanvapi mosque premises.

The legal battle began when the mosque committee contested a district judge's order permitting puja within the mosque's premises. However, the Supreme Court directed the case to the Allahabad High Court. In the recent hearing, the High Court observed that the mosque committee had failed to challenge the January 17 order and did not seek a halt to the district court's decision to allow puja inside the Gyanvapi mosque premises.

This decision follows the petition by four women who approached the Supreme Court, urging an excavation and survey of the sealed section of the mosque. The plea was prompted by an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) report that supported the Hindu claim that a significant Hindu temple predated the construction of the Gyanvapi mosque.

Meanwhile, the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee (AIMC), which manages the Gyanvapi mosque, has called for a protest, appealing to the Muslim community to keep their shops closed on Friday. This comes in response to the district court's decision to allow prayers in the southern cellar of the Gyanvapi mosque, a move that has heightened communal tensions.