Gyanvapi Mosque committee moves Allahabad High Court against order permitting Hindu prayers in mosque cellar

The Anjuman Intezamia Masajid Committee has filed a plea before the Allahabad High Court challenging a Varanasi court order allowing Hindu parties to offer prayers and puja in the southern cellar of the Gyanvapi Mosque..The matter was mentioned today by Senior Advocate SFA Naqvi before Acting Chief Justice Manoj Kumar Gupta, who directed him to file an urgent listing plea before the Registrar of the High Court.Consequently, an application was submitted to the Registrar for listing the matter urgently.The Committee had first moved their challenge before the Supreme Court earlier today and sought an expedited hearing in the matter. However, the Registrar, acting on instructions, directed the Muslim party to approach the Allahabad High Court instead..The main dispute over the Gyanvapi compound involves a claim by the Hindu side that a section of a temple on the said land was destroyed during the rule of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb in the 17th century.On the other hand, the Muslim side has maintained that the mosque predated Aurangzeb's reign and that it had endured various alterations over time..Amid this ongoing court dispute over the religious character of the property (which houses the Gyanvapi mosque) a district court in Varanasi on Wednesday directed a receiver to allow Hindu parties to offer prayers and puja in the southern cellar of the Gyanvapi Mosque.Judge AK Vishvesha of the district court had added that the prayers should be conducted by a priest nominated by the Kashi Vishwanath Trust Board. For this purpose, fencing may also be erected within seven days, the district court directed."District Magistrate, Varanasi / receiver is directed to get puja, raga-blog performed of the idols located inside that the basement situated on the south side of the building which is the suit property, by the priest named by the Kashi Vishwanath Trust Board and the plaintiff. For this purpose, make proper arrangements of iron fencing etc. within 7 days," the order stated. .The said order was passed in response to a plea by Hindu plaintiffs seeking worship rights in the Vyas 'tehkhana' (basement) of the land housing the Gyanvapi Mosque.The Hindu side had pointed out that worship activities were earlier conducted in the basement by Somenath Vyas and his family until November 1993, when it was prohibited by the government of the time led by Mulayam Singh Yadav..The District Court order of January 31 has now been challenged by the Muslim side, which has also questioned the haste with which it was implemented. In the letter sent earlier today to the Supreme Court's registry, the mosque committee stated, "The obvious reason for such unseemly haste is that the administration in collusion with the plaintiffs is trying to foreclose any attempt by the Mosque Managing Committee to avail of their remedies against the said order by presenting them with a fait accompli."Meanwhile, the Hindu parties have filed a caveat before the Allahabad High Court in anticipation of any challenge against the district court order..On a related note, the Allahabad High Court had on January 31 sought the response of the mosque committee to a plea filed by a Hindu party seeking an ASI survey of the wuzukhana region within the Mosque premises.Notably, the ASI had already conducted a comprehensive scientific survey of the Gyanvapi mosque complex excluding the wuzukhana.The ASI also recently submitted a survey report to the Varanasi district court asserting that an ancient Hindu Temple existed at the site before the construction of the Gyanvapi Mosque.