Gyanvapi Masjid Case: Varanasi Court Dismisses Plea Filed By Masjid Committee

Gyanvapi Mosque Case: The case filed by advocates of plaintiff Kiran Singh in the court of Civil Judge Senior Division Fast Track Court Mahendra Kumar Pandey is considered admissible. 

Police outside the Kashi Vishwanath Temple/Gyanvapi mosque

Source : File Photo/Getty

A Varanasi court on Thursday dismissed the Anjuman Islamia Masjid committee's plea challenging the maintainability of a suit to hand over possession of the Gyanvapi mosque premises to Lord Vishweshwar Virajman (Swayambhu), reported by Live Law.

"Varanasi Court dismisses the plea filed by the Masjid committee challenging the maintainability of the suit in the Gyanvapi Mosque case; the next hearing is on 2nd December," said Anupam Dwivedi, Advocate Hindu side.

Uttar Pradesh | Varanasi Court dismisses the plea filed by the Masjid committee challenging the maintainability of the suit in the Gyanvapi Mosque case; the next hearing is on 2nd December: Anupam Dwivedi, Advocate Hindu side pic.twitter.com/AbtVONiDfh

— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) November 17, 2022

The case filed by advocates of plaintiff Kiran Singh in the court of Civil Judge Senior Division Fast Track Court Mahendra Kumar Pandey is considered admissible. 

In this case, the arguments of both the parties were completed in the court on October 15 itself. Since then the file was pending in the order. 

On the other hand, questions have been raised on behalf of the respondent party Anjuman Islamia Masjid committee only on the application under Order 7 Rule 11. The Muslim side claimed that the lawsuit and its related demands were barred by the Places of Worship Act of 1991.

According to this act, the religious character of any religious place that came into existence before August 15, 1947, cannot be changed. The demand of the Muslim side was rejected by the court today.

However, it should be noticed that this suit isn't associated with the proceedings connected with case filed by five Hindu women seeking rights to pray inside the Gyanvapi mosque premises.

According to Vishwa Vedic Sanatan Sangh's advocate Anupam Dwivedi, the court has said in its order that the case is maintainable. The court has fixed December 2 as the next date of the hearing. The court has rejected the objection of the Muslim side.

Earlier, the order was to come only on November 8th. However, due to the presiding officer of the court being on leave, the date of November 14 was fixed.

In this case, Vadini Kiran Singh sought permission to bar the entry of Muslims, hand over the premises to Hindus and worship the 'Shivling' and perform 'pooja'. Both parties have completed their arguments in court and filed their written copy.

What Do We Know About The Gyanvapi Mosque?

There are several viewpoints pertaining to the construction of the Gyanvapi Masjid. It is widely believed that during the 18th century, Maharani Ahilyabai Holkar of the Malwa kingdom built the present-day Kashi Vishwanath temple next to the mosque.

The Gyanvapi mosque shares a boundary wall with the Kashi Vishwanath temple. As of today, the temple and mosque are adjacent to each other but have their entry and exit points in different directions.

The temple has been demolished and rebuilt several times in its course of history. According to historians, in 1669, Mughal emperor Aurangzeb built the Gyanvapi mosque on the site.

There is another viewpoint as well. Some historians have said that both the Kashi Vishwanath temple and the Gyanvapi mosque were constructed by Akbar to further his system of Din-e-Ilahi.

Din-e-Ilahi was a system of religious beliefs introduced by Akbar in 1582 CE. The idea behind this was to combine Islam and Hinduism into one faith. The Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee, in charge of the Gyanvapi masjid, maintains this theory.