Another HC bench to hear KV temple, Gyanvapi case
ALLAHABAD: The Allahabad high court on Wednesday allowed the amendment application filed in Kashi Vaishwanath templeGyanvapi mosque dispute and directed the court registry to list the two connected petitions before the appropriate bench.
The order was passed by justice Sangeeta Chandra while hearing two writ petitions filed in decades-old dispute.
In the petition filed by Anjuman Intazamia Masjid, Varanasi, the order passed by the lower court was challenged in which the court dismissed the application raising preliminary objection that the mandir-masjid dispute could not be adjudicated by a civil court as it was barred by the law. In another petition filed by Sunni Central Board of Waqf, the order passed by the additional district judge (ADJ), Varanasi, was challenged. The Varanasi ADJ had dismissed an application in which the Waqf Board had requested that it should be added as a party to the suit.
The Sunni Central Board of Waqf pleaded that the dispute had already been decided by the district court in 1942. However, in September 1991, the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act, 1991, was enacted and later the temple’s Trust filed a civil suit.
In the suit filed by the temple Trust, Swayambhu Vishweshwarnath idol is one of the parties and it has been stated that the temple was built by Maharaja Vikramaditya about 2050 years ago. Mughal emperor Aurangzeb destroyed the temple in 1664 and used the remains of the temple to construct a mosque on a portion of the land.
The Trust requested the court to issue directives for the removal of the mosque on temple land and give back the possession of the land to the temple Trust. The Trust contended that the Places of Worship (Special Provisions) Act was not applicable on its suit as the mosque was constructed over a partly demolished temple and even today remains of the temple exist beneath the mosque. Therefore, it is the property of Swyambhu Vishwesharnath idol and the Hindus have the right to worship at the temple, the Trust said.
The proceedings in the suit were stayed by the court.