The Allahabad High Court dismissed the plea of the Muslim side, represented by the Anjuman Intezamia Committee, in the Gyanvapi Shrinagar Gauri case. The plea challenged the maintainability of the Hindu side’s case. The Hindu worshippers had requested permission for daily worship of Hindu deities in the Gyanvapi mosque. The high court rejected the mosque committee’s challenge to the suit pending before the Varanasi court. The court has upheld the September 12, 2022 order of the Varanasi court, holding the said suit to be maintainable. The Masjid Committee had moved the High Court in October 2022, days after the Varanasi court dismissed its plea (filed under Order 7 Rule 11 CPC) challenging the maintainability of a suit filed by five Hindu women seeking worshipping rights in the Gyanvapi compound.
The case pertains to the dispute over the Gyanvapi mosque in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. The mosque is said to have been built by Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb after demolishing the original Kashi Vishwanath temple. The case has been a subject of immense controversy and has been pending in the courts for years.
The Gyanvapi case’s Muslim side is represented by the Anjuman Intezamia Committee, while the Hindu side is represented by the Kashi Vishwanath Mandir Trust. Both sides have been engaged in a long-drawn legal battle over the ownership and possession of the disputed site. The case is considered to be of critical importance as it touches upon sensitive issues of religion and communal harmony in the country.
