Varanasi Court to Hear Plea against Worship in Gyanvapi Mosque Cellar on Feb 15

The hearing over the plea against the recently allowed 'puja' in a cellar of the Gyanvapi mosque will be held on February 15 before a Varanasi court. The Allahabad HC had on Wednesday posted to February 12 the hearing on the plea, which challenging the Varanasi district court order that allowed Hindu prayers in a cellar of the Gyanvapi mosque.

Varanasi: A Varanasi court on Thursday fixed February 15 as the date for hearing the Gyanvapi Masjid committee's plea against the recently allowed 'puja' in a cellar of the mosque, the Hindu side counsel said. Advocate M M Yadav said he told District Judge Anil Kumar that since the Allahabad High Court was scheduled to hear the matter on February 12, there was no point in the district court hearing it now.

The court then posted the matter for February 15. Besides filing an appeal on Friday last against the Varanasi district court allowing Hindu prayers in the southern cellar of the Gyanvapi mosque, the Anjuman Intezamia had also moved an application against it in the Allahabad High Court. The Allahabad HC had on Wednesday posted to February 12 the hearing on the plea, which challenging the Varanasi district court order that allowed Hindu prayers in a cellar of the Gyanvapi mosque.

Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal heard both, Hindu and Muslim, sides on the Gyanvapi mosque committee's appeal and posted the matter for February 12. The mosque committee had moved the high court on February 2 within hours of the Supreme Court refusing to hear its plea against the Varanasi district court order and asking it to approach the high court.

The Varanasi district court had on January 31 ruled that a priest can perform prayers before the idols in the southern cellar of the Gyanvapi mosque. According to the petition, priest Somnath Vyas used to perform prayers there till 1993 when the cellar was closed by the authorities. Shailendra Kumar Pathak, maternal grandson of Somnath Vyas, had sought the right to worship the deities there.