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Synopsis

An old map of the Vishweshwar temple was presented by the counsel for the Hindu devotees before the Allahabad High Court on Wednesday which indicated the places on the outer wall of the Gyanvapi premises where worship of Hindu deities used to take place.

The bench of Justice JJ Munir is currently seized with the revision plea filed by the Committee of Management Anjuman Intezamia Masajid Varanasi against the order passed by the Varanasi District and Sessions Judge rejecting its application challenging the maintainability of the suit by the Hindu women.

Five Hindu women have filed a suit before the local court at Varanasi where they have alleged that Maa Shringar Gauri, Lord Ganesha, Lord Hanuman & other visible and invisible deities reside inside the Gyanvapi Complex, therefore, they should be allowed to perform all rituals of these deities inside the complex all year long.

Currently, permission is granted to perform the rituals of Hindu pooja at Gyanvapi only once a year.

However, the Hindu devotees have claimed that Hindu deities were regularly worshipped at their respective places at Gyanvapi till 1993, but later this practice was stopped by an order issued by the state government.

The Hindu women’s claim is being contested by the Committee of Management Anjuman Intezamia Masajid Varanasi which manages the affairs of Gyanvapi mosque and the Waqf Board.

The present revision plea has been filed by the mosque management committee challenging the order dated September 12, 2022 passed by Dr. A.K. Vishvesha, District and Sessions Judge, Varanasi, who rejected its application filed under Order 7 Rule 11 of the Code of Civil Procedure questioning the maintainability of the suit by the Hindu women.

To be noted, another single judge bench of the high court has reserved the judgment in the five petitions that had been clubbed together pertaining to the land dispute at Gyanvapi. The issue in the petitions mainly concerns a survey of the Gyanvapi complex by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI).

Also, the bench of Justice JJ Munir is seized with another civil revision petition filed by the Hindu plaintiffs against the order of District Judge, Varanasi dated October 14, 2022. The district judge had dismissed the Hindu plaintiffs' application seeking scientific probe of the structure (alleged Shivlingam) found at Gyanvapi, for evaluation of its age. Next hearing in that plea will take place on January 18, 2022.

Case Title: Committee of Management Anjuman Intezamia Masajid Varanasi Vs Smt. Rakhi Singh And 9 Others