Allahabad HC adjourns hearing on Gyanvapi row till December 7

Prayagraj (Uttar Pradesh): The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday adjourned the hearing on a petition filed by the Gyanvapi mosque management committee, challenging the maintainability of a suit seeking restoration of a temple at the site where the mosque exists.

The matter was listed before the bench of Justice Rohit Ranjan Agrawal. When it was called for hearing, the court adjourned the matter and posted it to December 7.

By an order dated August 28, the then Chief Justice Pritinkar Diwakar had transferred the case from Justice Prakash Padia to himself, saying 'a single judge continued with the hearing of these cases for more than two years, even though he had no jurisdiction in the matter as per the roster'.

Justice Diwakar had further said the decision to withdraw the case from the single-judge bench to the chief justice's court was taken on the administrative side in the interest of judicial propriety, judicial discipline, and transparency in the listing of cases.

Justice Diwakar retired on November 22 and the case was listed before Justice Agrawal on Tuesday.

The Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee (AIMC) has challenged the maintainability of a suit filed before a Varanasi court, in which the plaintiff has sought restoration of a temple at the site where the Gyanvapi mosque exists.

The counsel for the AIMC, S F A Naqvi, said the petition also challenges a Varanasi court direction to the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to conduct a comprehensive survey of the mosque. The order was passed on April 8, 2021.