LUCKNOW: A plea filed by five Hindu women seeking the right to regularly worship deities in the Gyanvapi Masjid complex is maintainable, the Allahabad high court ruled on Wednesday, dismissing a petition challenging a lower court order that allowed proceedings in the case to go ahead.
The bench of Justice J J Munir had reserved its judgment after hearing both parties at length on December 24, 2022. The order came in a revision petition filed by Anjuman Intezamia Masjid (Gyanvapi mosque management committee) in October 2022 against the Varanasi district court’s order of September 12, 2022.
District Judge A K Vishwesha dismissed the mosque committee’s objection under Order 7 Rule 11 of CPC. The judge observed the suit of the Hindu women plaintiffs was not barred by the Places of Worship (Special Provision) Act, 1991, the Waqf Act, 1995 and UP Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple Act-1983, as was being claimed by the mosque committee.
In their plea for the right to worship Goddess Shringar Gauri in the Gyanvapi complex located next to Kashi Vishwanath temple, the women said the mosque was once a temple, which was demolished during Emperor Aurangzeb’s rule.