Gyanvapi mosque case: Allahabad HC rejects Muslim side petitions against the maintainability of a 1991 civil suit by Hindus seeking rights to worship in mosque

Today, the Allahabad High Court rejected all the petitions filed by the Muslim side against the maintainability of a 1991 civil suit by Hindus seeking rights to worship at the Gyanvapi mosque.  The petitions addressed today were filed by the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee and the Sunni Central Waqf Board regarding the ownership of the Gyanvapi Mosque and Kashi Vishwanathan Temple in Varanasi. The judgment today was delivered by the single-judge bench of Justice Rohit Ranjan Aggarwal. While rejecting the petitions, the judge also asked the lower court to complete the hearing within six months. The matter has been in the limelight since 2021, and the cases related to the same were heard by Justice Prakash Padia. Further, the cases were transferred to then Chief Justice Pritinker Diwakar in August 2023. Earlier on August 03, 2023, the Allahabad HC upheld the Varanasi Court’s decision to allow ASI to conduct a survey of the mosque to determine whether the Gyanvapi Mosque was built on top of a pre-existing ancient Hindu Temple. From September 12, 2023, a fresh hearing for the same was initiated.