New Delhi
The Supreme Court on Monday refused to stay the order of the Allahabad High Court, which upheld the Varanasi District Court's order allowing Hindus to offer prayers to the deities inside the 'Vyas Tehkhana', the southern basement of the Gyanvabi Mosque.
A bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud and Justices JP Pardiwala and Manoj Misra ordered the Hindu and Muslim sides to maintain status quo at the Gyanvapi premises to enable both communities to perform 'puja' and 'puja'.
The bench said that the status quo should not be changed without permission from the Supreme Court.
The council noted that access to the Tehkhana where the puja is held and the area where Muslims pray are different.
The Supreme Court said that Hindus will enter from the south and pray at Tikhana, and Muslims will enter from the northern side to pray.
“At this stage, keeping in mind the fact that Muslim communities are performing prayers unhindered following the orders of the District Court and the Supreme Court and that prayers in Tikhana are restricted to Hindu priests, it is important to maintain the status quo, so that both communities can perform prayers,” the council said in its order. Religious worship under the conditions mentioned above.
During the hearing, the Supreme Court also noted that Muslims were performing prayers without hindrance and offering 'puja' was restricted to Tahkhana area only.
“Are we correct when we say that prayer in the south (basement) does not affect (Muslim) prayer in the north? If this is true… then we can say that there is no further change in the status quo than that. We say let prayer continue and “Worship can continue in the south basement,” CJI Chandrachud said during the hearing.
It also issued notice to the Hindu plaintiffs on the mosque committee's appeal challenging the Allahabad High Court's order regarding 'puja' of deities inside 'Vyas Tekhana'.
The Supreme Court has now adjourned the matter for hearing in July.
The mosque committee has filed an appeal against the Supreme Court order, contending that the administration was acting “in haste” soon after a Varanasi court ordered 'pujas' to be performed at night.
On January 31, the Varanasi District Court allowed the Hindu side to perform prayers in the southern basement of Gyanvapi Mosque. The court directed the Varanasi district magistrate to make necessary arrangements within seven days for the performance of 'puja' by the Hindu side and a pujari nominated by Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple.
After the court order, 'puja' and 'aarti' are performed there.
The district court passed the order on the plea of the chief priest of Acharya Ved Vyas Peth temple, Shailendra Kumar Pathak Vyas, seeking to worship Shringar Gauri and other visible and invisible deities in the basement of the mosque. Vyas is the scion of the family that used to perform 'puja' in this basement until December 1993.
Vyas' maternal grandfather, priest Somnath Vyas, used to offer prayers there until 1993 when authorities sealed the basement, the petition said.
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A survey by ASI, ordered by the same court, in relation to a related case, indicates that the mosque was constructed during Aurangzeb's rule on the remains of a Hindu temple.
