The Hindu Side on Wednesday filed a new petition seeking to stop Muslim devotees walking on top of Gyanvapi mosque’s southern cellar, where the court recently allowed Hindu prayers.
The cellar’s roof is very old and weak. It also said the pillars of this basement, also known as “Vyas Tehkhana”, needed repair, the plea Said
Hindu side’s counsel Madan Mohan Yadav told the Daily Guardian that District Judge Anil Kumar has fixed March 19 for hearing the petition which also seeks repair of the cellar’s pillars.
The fresh plea was filed days after the Allahabad High Court said Hindu prayers will continue in the “Vyas Tehkhana” of the Gyanvapi mosque, while dismissing the mosque committee’s plea that had challenged the district court’s order to this effect.
The dispute stemmed from the challenge by the Anjuman Intezamia Masajid (AIM), the Gyanvapi management committee, against the appointment of the Varanasi district magistrate as the caretaker of the southern cellar of the mosque, also known as ‘Vyasji ka Tahkhana’, on January 17, 2024.
The Varanasi district court’s ruling allowed for puja inside the cellar on January 31, a decision which was upheld by Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal of the Allahabad High Court. He stated that after thoroughly reviewing the case records and considering the arguments presented, there was no justification to intervene in the district judge’s judgment appointing the district magistrate as the property’s receiver.
, nor in the subsequent order allowing Puja in the tehkhana.