Setback to Muslim side in Gyanvapi Case, Allahabad High Court Dismisses Review Petition

Setback to Muslim side in Gyanvapi Case, Allahabad High Court Dismisses Review Petition

The Allahabad High Court in an important decision on Wednesday dismissed the review petition of the Muslim side against the regular worship of Shringar Gauri in the Gyanvapi campus.

Earlier, the district court of Varanasi had dismissed the petition of the Muslim side in this case, after which the Muslim side challenged the order of the district court by filing a petition in the Allahabad High Court.

A single bench of Justice JJ Munir in the Allahabad High Court completed the hearing on December 23, 2022 and reserved the order.

In this case, a case was filed on behalf of Rakhi Singh and 9 other people in the district court of Varanasi, in which the objection of the Muslim side was rejected.

The Muslim side cited the Places of Worship Act 1991 and argued that the suit filed in this case was not maintainable.

On August 18, 2021, Hindu women litigants filed a suit in the district court of Varanasi for permission to worship other deities present in the premises including Shringar Gauri, Ganesh ji and Hanuman ji in the Gyanvapi premises.

The women litigants had said that they should be allowed to worship in the same way as prayers are offered in Gyanvapi Masjid.

The plaintiffs argued that the mosque complex was a Hindu place of worship which was demolished by Aurangzeb after which the mosque was built at the site.

The maintainability of the suit was challenged by the Muslim side in the district court citing the Places of Worship Act, 1991.

The court, in its order on September 12, rejected the argument of the Muslim side and said that the Hindu priests claim that the worship of deities inside the mosque premises continued even after August 15, 1947, hence the place of worship in this case Act 1991 does not apply.

The Muslim side filed a petition in the High Court against the district court’s decision.

The High Court today upheld the order of the district court by dismissing the review petition filed by the Muslim side against the order of the district court.

The Court held that the Places of Worship Act, 1991 does not create any bar in this matter and the suit filed by the plaintiffs is not barred under Section 9 of the Act.