Allahabad High Court dismisses Muslim side’s objection to ASI survey on Gyanvapi Mosque.

Gyanvapi case: Allahabad HC rejects Mosque panel’s petitions challenging suits seeking ‘restoration’ of temple objecting ‘ASI survey’.

The High Court further ordered a Varanasi court to complete the hearing of the case within six months.

Upendra Bharti | HENB | Lucknow | Dec 19, 2023:: Another development in Gyanvapi case after Archeological Survey of India submitted Gyanvapi survey report in Varanasi court yesterday. Allahabad High Court dismisses Mosque panel’s petitions challenging suits seeking ‘restoration’ of temple objecting ‘ASI survey’. The Allahabad HC has also given order to concerned Varanasi court to complete the hearing of the case within six months.

The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday dismissed five pleas filed by the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board and Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committe challenging the maintainability of a civil suit pending before a Varanasi court seeking the restoration of a temple at the site where the Gyanvapi mosque exists. The High Court further ordered a Varanasi court to complete the hearing of the case within six months.

The Allahabad High Court also rejected the Muslim side’s objection to maintainability and the ASI survey issue in the Gyanvapi Mosque case of Varanasi  today. The court declined petitions filed by the Anjuman Intejamia Masjid Committee and all the other five petitioners. The High Court considered the civil suit filed by the Hindu side in the Varanasi court as worthy of hearing. The High Court rejected the arguments of the Mosque Committee and the Waqf Board. The petition also challenged the Varanasi court’s order dated April 8, 2021, which had directed to conduct a comprehensive survey of the Gyanvapi Mosque.

The petitions filed by the Anjuman Intezamia Masajid Committee (AIMC) and the Uttar Pradesh Sunni Central Waqf Board have also challenged a Varanasi court order of April 8, 2021 to conduct a comprehensive survey of the Gyanvapi mosque. On December 8, Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal had reserved judgment after hearing the counsels of the petitioners and the respondent.

According to Hindu side plaintiff, the Gyanvapi mosque is a part of the temple. However, the primary contention of the Anjuman Intezamia Masajid Committee and the UP Sunni Central Waqf Board is that the suit is prohibited by the Places of Worship Act (Special Provisions) Act of 1991, which restricts altering the character of a religious places as it existed on August 15, 1947.

The court approved the trial of the 1991 case. In the case filed in the Varanasi court in 1991 on behalf of the litigation friends of Lord Adi Vishweshwar Virajman, a demand was made to hand over the disputed premises to Hindus and to allow worship there. In the year 1991, cases were filed in Varanasi court on behalf of Somnath Vyas, Ramnarayan Sharma and Harihar Pandey.

Here are the highlights of today’s development

• Complete the hearing of the case within 6 months.
• Only the survey conducted by ASI will be valid.
• If the Hindu side wants to do some more survey then they can file an application in the court.
• The three petitions were related to the maintainability of the case filed in the Varanasi court in 1991.
• While the remaining two applications were filed against the survey order of ASI,
• The Muslim side argued that the Places of Worship Act of 1991
• Adi Vishweshwar’s case cannot be heard under this,
• It was argued from the Hindu side that this dispute was before independence,
• And the Places of Worship Act will not be applicable in the Gyanvapi dispute.

Leading Hindu side advocate Vishnu Shankar Jain wrote in his X handle that “The appeal of Anjuman Intezamia against 1991 suit in Kashi case is dismissed by Allhabad High Court. The argument of places of worship act has been rejected. The religious character has to be ascertained.”

The Varanasi district court, has scheduled the next hearing for the Cyanvapi case on submitted ASI scientific survey report and related matters on December 21.

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__Inputs from IE and India TV