Hindu prayers to continue in 'Vyas Ji Ka Tehkhana'

The Allahabad High Court on Monday dismissed a petition challenging an order that allowed Hindus to offer puja in the southern cellar inside the Gyanvapi premises in Varanasi.

A single bench of Justice Rohit Ranjan Aggarwal heard the plea filed by the Anjuman Intezamia Masjid Committee, challenging a Varanasi court order that permitted Hindus to worship in the 'Vyas Ji Ka Tehkhana', located in the southern area of the Gyanvapi mosque complex.

The High Court has accepted that puja and religious rituals used to take place there, and in 1993, without any document or order the religious rituals were stopped. So, the district court's order was upheld today. 

On January 31, a Varanasi court allowed Hindu devotees to worship inside the southern cellar of the Gyanvapi premises. The court had also directed the district administration to make the necessary arrangements for the puja to be performed by the devotees and asked the Shri Kashi Vishwanath Temple Trust to nominate a priest for the same.

Following this, the mosque committee challenged the Varanasi court order's decision in the Allahabad High Court. After hearing the arguments, the High Court had reserved its decision on February 15.