Giving a jolt to the Muslim side in the controversial Gyanvapi mosque case of Varanasi, the Varanasi court on Monday said the suit filed by women seeking permission for worship inside the compound is maintainable.
The management committee of Gyanvapi mosque had filed a petition asking for the rejection of the case. The District Judge of Varanasi Ajay Krishna Vishvesha, while hearing the case seeking worshipping rights at Shringar Gauri and other deities in the Gyanvapi mosque compound said the writ is maintainable.
The district judge has rejected the petition of the Muslim side saying the case would continue. The court has fixed September 22 as the next date for a hearing in this case.
A group of women who used to perform Puja at the Shringar Gauri platform inside the mosque compound adjacent to the Kashi Vishwanath temple once a year had filed a petition in the district court seeking permission for 'permanent right of worship'.
The Hindu side in the case had claimed in the lower court that a Shivling was found during the video graphic survey of the Gyanvapi mosque-Shringar Gauri complex, which was contested by the Muslim side.
Meanwhile, the Anjuman Intezamia Committee representing the Muslim side has decided to move to the High Court in this matter. The mosque management committee lawyer Merakuddin Siddiqui said that they would go to High Court against the order given by the District Judge.
The advocate for the Hindu side in the case, Sohanlal Arya, said that the court has accepted his argument and the application of the Muslim side is being rejected.
Reacting to the decision of the District Judge, the General Secretary of All India Shia Personal Law Board, Maulana Yasoob Abbas said that it is welcomed but since the matter is related to faiths, the religious leaders of both sects in Varanasi must sit together and work on a solution.
The working president of Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Alok Kumar said that the decision is welcomed and it has removed the first hurdle in the way of freeing the Kashi Vishwanath temple fully.
