A Varanasi court on Thursday fixed February 15 as the date for hearing of plea against the recently allowed 'puja' in the cellar of the Gyanvapi mosque, the Hindu side counsel said. The plea was filed by the Anjuman Intezamia committee which looks after the affairs of the mosque adjacent to the Kashi Vishwanath temple.
Advocate MM Yadav said he told District Judge Anil Kumar that since the Allahabad High Court was scheduled to hear the matter on February 12, there was no point in the district court hearing it now. The court then posted the matter for February 15.
Allahabad HC adjourns hearing on plea
Earlier on Wednesday, the Allahabad High Court adjourned to February 12 the hearing on a plea challenging the Varanasi district court order allowing Hindu prayers in the cellar of the Gyanvapi mosque.
On behalf of the Hindu side, Vishnu Shankar Jain submitted on Tuesday that the order for appointing a receiver was passed on January 17 and the court order for offering puja was passed on January 31.
Mosque committee moved high court
The mosque committee moved the high court on February 2 within hours of the Supreme Court refusing to hear its plea against the Varanasi district court order and asking it to approach the high court. The Varanasi district court had ruled on January 31 that a priest can perform prayers before the idols in the southern cellar of the Gyanvapi mosque.
The court had allowed regular prayers in the cellar on a petition by Shailendra Kumar Pathak, who claimed that his maternal grandfather, priest Somnath Vyas, used to perform prayers there till December 1993.
When was access to cellar was closed for priest?
According to Pathak's counsel, the access to the cellar was closed for the priest during Mulayam Singh Yadav's term as Uttar Pradesh chief minister. The prayers at the cellar are being performed by a priest nominated by the Kashi Vishwanath temple trust.
Hindu litigants claim that a temple was destroyed during Aurangzeb's rule to build the Gyanvapi mosque. The recent ASI survey also suggested the mosque was built on the remains of a pre-existing temple.
(With inputs from PTI)
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