- December 19, 2023
High court judgment on maintainability of Gyanvapi temple suit today | India News – Times of India
PRAYAGRAJ: The Allahabad high court on Tuesday will pronounce its judgment on all five petitions filed by Anjuman Intezamia Masajid (AIM) and others challenging the maintainability of a civil suit pending before a Varanasi court, seeking restoration of a temple at the site where the Gyanvapi mosque exists.
In the petition, a Varanasi court’s direction dated April 8, 2021, for conducting a comprehensive survey of the Gyanvapi complex has also been challenged.
On December 8, Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal had reserved his verdict after hearing both parties – the petitioners AIM, which manages the Gyanvapi mosque, and UP Sunni Central Waqf Board, and the respondents, the Hindu side.
The suit filed by the Hindu side claims the mosque was built on an ancient Shiva temple and seeks restoration of the same.
However, the AIM contends that the suit is untenable according to the Places of Worship Act (Special Provisions) Act of 1991, which prohibits changing the character of a religious structure as it stood on August 15, 1947.
In the petition, a Varanasi court’s direction dated April 8, 2021, for conducting a comprehensive survey of the Gyanvapi complex has also been challenged.
On December 8, Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal had reserved his verdict after hearing both parties – the petitioners AIM, which manages the Gyanvapi mosque, and UP Sunni Central Waqf Board, and the respondents, the Hindu side.
The suit filed by the Hindu side claims the mosque was built on an ancient Shiva temple and seeks restoration of the same.
However, the AIM contends that the suit is untenable according to the Places of Worship Act (Special Provisions) Act of 1991, which prohibits changing the character of a religious structure as it stood on August 15, 1947.
