The Allahabad High Court on Monday dismissed the Gyanvapi mosque management committee’s twin appeals challenging the Varanasi district court’s decision allowing the offering of prayers (“puja”) in a cellar in the mosque complex. Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal of the Allahabad HC pronounced the judgment.Earlier, the singe judge bench of the high court comprising Justice Agarwal had reserved the judgment on February 15, 2024 after hearing pleas from both parties.On January 17, the Varanasi district judge had appointed the district magistrate as the receiver of the southern cellar (“Vyasji ka Tehkhana”) of the mosque. On January 31, the Varanasi district court ruled that a priest can perform prayers before the idols in the southern cellar of the mosque. Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal, while dismissing both the appeals of the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid (AIM), said in his order: “After going through the entire records of the case and after considering arguments of the parties concerned, the court did not find any ground to interfere in the judgement passed by the Varanasi district judge, dated January 7, 2024 appointing DM, Varanasi, as receiver of the property as well as order dated January 31, 2024 by which the district court had permitted puja in the ‘Tehkhana’.”
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