After the sudden passing away of Advocate Abhay Nath Yadav, who was representing the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid (AIM), which is the committee that manages the Gyanvapi mosque, proceedings in the Gyanvapi (Shringar Gauri) case had suffered a brief setback. 65-year-old Yadav had died of a cardiac arrest on Sunday July 31.
However, hearings resumed in a related matter in the Allahabad High Court on Wednesday, August 3, 2022. The case in the HC deals with the AIM and Sunni Central Waqf Board’s plea to stay the proceedings before a lower court in Varanasi. They had argued that the lower court should not be allowed to conduct proceedings, given how judgment in the title suit pertaining to the Kashi Vishwanath temple and the Gyanvapi mosque dispute has been reserved by the Allahabad High Court in March 2021. Moreover, they argued that as per the Places of Worship Act, the character of a place of worship cannot be changed from what it was on Indian Independence Day i.e August 15, 1947.
During the hearing on August 3, the petitioners i.e AIM and the Waqf Board, also argued that the land is Waqf land and therefore a civil dispute cannot be made part of a civil dispute. Meanwhile, according to the Nav Bharat Times the Hindu parties argued that the land was never Waqf land and was part of the Kashi Vishwanath temple, a portion of which was razed to build the mosque. They say the land therefore remains eternally vested in the deity, and therefore cannot be called Waqf land.
The Allahabad High Court has now adjourned the case to August 17.
Readers would recall that the title suit in the case was filed as far back as in 1991. On March 15, 2021, judge Prakash Padia of the Allahabad High Court had reserved his judgment in the case. It is the same judge who is now hearing a plea for a stay on proceedings before the lower court.
Other parallel cases in lower courts
The title suit and petition pertaining to stay on proceedings before the lower court, are distinct from the current proceedings going on in the Varanasi district court where judge Ajay Krishna Vishvesha is hearing arguments pertaining to Order 7 Rule 11 of the Civil Procedure Code (CPC) with respect to the maintainability of the law suit against the Gyanvapi mosque. Hearing in that case is expected to take place today.
This in turn is distinct from the petition for banning entry of Muslim devotees to the Gyanvapi mosque and conducting prayers as per Hindu tradition, a matter that is being heard by a fast-track court in Varanasi. The court had permitted the petitioners to make some corrections to their petition during the last hearing and will next hear the matter on August 8.
Case in the Supreme Court
On July 21, the Supreme Court announced that it has decided to wait for the Varanasi district court’s decision pertaining specifically to the maintainability of the case under Order 7, Rule 11 of the Civil Procedure Code (CPC). The court, accordingly, adjourned the matter till the first week of October.
The bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, Surya Kant and PS Narasimha was hearing a petition by the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid (AIM) which is the mosque management authority of the Gyanvapi mosque, challenging the lower courts order to conduct a survey of the mosque.
Related:
Gyanvapi case: SC to wait for Varanasi district court’s decision on suit maintainability
Gyanvapi case: Fast-track court permits corrections to petition
Gyanvapi case: Allahabad HC resumes hearing plea against proceedings in lower court
Gyanvapi case: Hindu petitioners submit that the mosque stands on land owned by Hindu deity