Today, the Allahabad High Court dismissed a petition challenging the Varanasi district court’s ruling permitting Hindu prayers in the cellar of the Gyanvapi mosque.
Justice Rohit Ranjan Agarwal affirmed, “Hindu prayers in the ‘Vyas Tehkhana’ will continue,” as he rejected the petition from the mosque committee.
Last month, the Varanasi district court had granted permission for a priest to offer prayers in the southern cellar known as “Vyas Tehkhana” of the Gyanvapi mosque. The decision was in response to a petition filed by Shailendra Kumar Pathak, whose maternal grandfather, Somnath Vyas, had been offering prayers until December 1993.
Mr. Pathak, a hereditary pujari, sought permission to enter the tehkhana and resume puja, a request that was acknowledged by the district court.