Allahabad HC reserves order on plea against 'puja' in Gyanvapi Mosque 'Tehkhana'

Lucknow: The Allahabad High Court on Thursday reserved its verdict on a petition challenging the order of a Varanasi district court allowing 'puja' at one of the cellars (Vyasji ka tehkhana) in the contentious Gyanvapi Mosque complex, adjacent to the Kashi Vishwanath Temple.

A single bench comprising Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal reserved its verdict after hearing the lawyers of the Hindu side and the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid, which looked after the affairs of Gyanvapi Mosque.

The lawyer for the Hindu side contended that the family of Somenath Vyas had performed 'puja' at the cellar uninterrupted till 1993 and that the order of the Varanasi court did not interfere with the rights of the Muslims to hold prayers in the Mosque.

On the other hand, the lawyer for the mosque committee argued that the Varanasi court erred in allowing 'puja' at the cellar as the Vyas family had transferred the right to worship to the Kashi Vishwanath Trust much earlier.

The high court had earlier refused to stay the 'puja' at the 'tehkhana', which started January 31 after a district court allowed a plea for restoration of worshipping rights there.

The district court had allowed worshipping in the mosque's basement and directed the district magistrate of Varanasi to make necessary arrangements in this regard within a week's time.

'Puja', however, began at the 'basement' at midnight on Wednesday, barely a few hours after the district court's order.